School shootings

I don’t know how to talk about this with my six and seven year olds, or with my nanny kids. All the stupid articles say not to say anything until they are eight, but how do I explain why they can’t wear light up shoes to school, and what all these new drills are for?Last year there was a shooting at a high school in a small town in my city’s county. While this was happening, all the public schools in the county were put on lock down, including my kids’ schools (they were in different buildings at the time; preschool and kindergarten). When I had them for my Sunday, it’s all my son would talk about. I remember him being angry and having this hero mentality that just broke my heart.I just got a voicemail about a high school within the district my nanny kids attend. The high school was locked down and will be on lock down for the rest of the day due to an alleged gunman in the area. Several other schools within the district and immediate area are also on lock down. My three school aged nanny kids each go to different schools for different reasons. Neither of the boys’ schools were affected. I’m not sure about the girl, she goes to a private school and I don’t know what their protocol is plus they usually directly contact the father.I feel like my nanny kids need to be talked to about this kind of stuff. I don’t want to scare them, and I mean it’s really not my job, it’s their dad’s. But still. There’s always the possibility they might hear things from classmates, or they may hear things the wrong way. I myself have a severe mental illness and I would hate for someone to introduce them to the concept that mentally ill people do this. Will they be scared of me? My kids’ dad and step mom were forced to bring the subject up because of the lock down last year, plus their step mom has immediate connections with some of the victims of the shooting. They were careful not to associate sick people with acts of violence.What have you said to your kids, or to kids you watch? How was the subject brought up? What ages were the children and what questions did they ask? How were they feeling? What’s the best and worst thing to say...is there something I haven’t mentioned? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2zTXJhW