Today we heard the frightening and sad news that the American ambassador in Libya was murdered with other Americans. The American Embassy was breached in Cairo, Egypt and the American flag torn down and burned. And as I write this, rioting is occurring in Cairo against Americans. These tragedies began on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11. A great deal of speculation is being stated in the media as to the significance of these events happening on the 9/11 anniversary. And people have been talking about this today with a mixture of disbelief and fear.
No doubt your teenager is hearing about this. As I think about the blog Sharon wrote yesterday, I agree with her that we can not shelter our teens from the frightening information and risks that are present in the world both outside our door and overseas. But we do want our teens to understand what is happening and to have some ideas as to how to cope in a crisis.
Help your teen understand the political and religious forces happening in the region where these tragedies occurred. I have found that many American teens do not have much of an understanding of the volatility in that region of the world. Reviewing the history of the area and the current issues there may help lower your teen's anxiety just because he will at least understand that these types of behaviors do not usually happen in a vacuum. But no matter how well your teen may understand this, he also needs to understand that THERE IS NO EXCUSE for the behavior that is occurring there. Talk with your teen about how he feels about these events and also help him voice how he would react if a violent event occurred in the area where he lives.
I hope that our teens never have to encounter this level of violence in their lives. But as parents, let us help them think through how to react.
And let us have a moment to think about the families of those who died yesterday.
Dr. Debra
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Posted by: EageseFab | 05/13/2013 at 11:53 AM