This article was written for The Survival Mom and published Aug. 4, 2016.
How To Teach Your Kids About War
I sat in my 6th grade classroom in January 1991, when an announcement was made over the loudspeaker stating the war with Iraq had begun. The classroom was located on a military base in Japan and some of the students’ parents were deployed for the war. Some students sat stunned, some started crying, and a few laughed, not knowing at such a young age how to handle their emotions. Whenever there is war, there are children who have to find a way to deal with the suddenly changed state of the world around them.
(I still question the decision of the school to make that announcement instead of leaving it to the parents, but that is what they thought was best.)
As a military brat and wife, I’ve often been a step closer to the wars our country has been part of than the general population. During Operation Desert Storm, we were stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and security was tight. Every sign that could be seen from off the base was covered up. We had to carry our military identification card every we went – even on base. We baked cookies for the troops, and I joined a program where older students tutored younger students who had a parent deployed.
My father was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and survived because he was on the other side of the building that day. The day before, he was in a meeting at the exact place where the plane crashed. I’ve had friends, coworkers, friends’ husbands, and my own husband deploy. A friend of mine married a war widow who had a young child. For me, the wars have always been front and center in my world, not just something to read about in the newspaper.
There is a distinct possibility that the current War on Terror will come to our shores, and many believe it already has. For an unsettling fictional account of this, read Day of Wrath by William Forstchen. Our children may grow up where war is a constant thing, and not just across the oceans but right here on American soil. How can we prepare them to deal with wartime?
Read more here.