My ds6 is in Montessori school now, and they've been watching the movie, Conquest of America. It's like watching a movie, not a documentary, and today the war scenes really scared my son. He was so upset he cried at school, and it's still bothering him this evening. Maybe he's too sheltered from this kind of thing, but he's 6! I'm just curious if this is an appropriate age to be watching that and how you would handle it with your child.
I know that when he goes to bed tonight, he's going to be thinking about it and have trouble sleeping. That's what always happens when something like that scares him. So, yes, it's the real world, but how do you explain things like this to your young children? He can't break down crying every time he sees someone die in a movie or hears about it on the radio. He's very aware of death, but for him it's more of a spiritual understanding. He has lots of ideas about what happens when we die. But, he doesn't ever ask about "how" people die. In fact, his biological father was killed in an car accident when ds was a baby, and while he asks about him all the time, he's never asked me "how" he died. So, I've never told him. If he asks a question about anything, I always answer and tell him the truth. I give as much info as he is comfortable with. I believe he'll ask for more info when he's ready. Ok, sorry I'm writing a novel here, but how do go about slowly exposing your young children to the negative aspects of the real world? Will ds outgrow this sensitivity?
Last edited by JenSMP; 03/18/10 04:50 PM.
