As a child, my father was an officer in the Air Force. At one point, he climbed the ranks high enough that he was transferred to the Pentagon. A year later, a plane flew into it. My father was alright, but he lost a number of friends. That night, he tried to explain to me and my sister why this had happened, and there was nothing he could really say or do.

Now I’m grown and have children of my own, and in the fallout of the attacks on Paris, I’m being forced to consider the same dilemma my father did. How do you explain this? How do you sit down and tell your kids why this happened and that even though we try, it might (and probably will) happen again? How can I bring myself to tell them about evils in the world, when they shouldn’t have to worry about them yet.

Tara Shafer has a helpful guide to speaking to your children about the attacks, and it helped me when I had to do the talk myself. Learn her tips here.

Read the Full Article: How to talk to kids about terrorism