After September 11, 2001, lots of little kids across the nation asked some variation of the same question:
“Mommy, why did the bad guys attack us?”
Kids tend to look for patterns, especially when they’re frightened, so some kids likely took this inquiry even a step further:
“Daddy, why do the bad guys hate us?”
At times like these – in the face of terrorism or war – amid our shock, grief, and fear, we need to be particularly attuned to the impact such events have on our children. Kids of all ages have questions and various emotional reactions—compounded all the more by the footage and commentary they may be seeing and experiencing.