Indianapolis Moms: How to talk about 9/11 with your children

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — With the remembrance of 9/11 approaching next week, kids will be learning more about this day in school as well as have questions about it too.

Indianapolis Moms contributor Kait Baumgartner, spoke with News 8 about five helpful tips for parents preparing to have those tough conversations with their children. Here are her suggestions:

1. Determine What They Already know: Get an understanding of what children already know – what they learned in school, heard from friends or even saw on the internet. And most importantly, make sure to dismiss any myths and replace them with the truth.

2. Be Open and Honest: Keep the conversation open – listen, let them ask questions and answer what you can. And if you don’t know an answer, like anything else, it’s okay to admit you don’t know it! But providing a safe space for an open conversation with your child will help them be able to process things a little better.

3. Read Books: There are so many great books you can read with your family, for different age levels too. Some of our favorites include Branches of Hope: The 9/11 Survivor Tree, 9, 10 A September 11 Story and Towers Falling.

4. Watch Documentaries and Videos: More importantly, KID APPROPRIATE documentaries are the key here. Some of our favorites include the Reading Rainbow: The Tin Forrest as well as Rebuilding Hope: The Children of 9/11 (on Prime Video.)

5. Moving Forward: It’s hard to process traumatic events and move forward as a child, so focus on ways our country came together to work through this hard moment of history. What our country did then and what we continue to do in honor of those who lost their lives and loved ones. 

You can watch the video above or visit their website for more information!