Community Corner

How Do You Talk to Your Kids About Osama bin Laden?

Whatever their age, if your children are online, they probably found out about bin Laden's death.

Since Sunday night's unexpected announcement that , many parents are grappling with how to talk to their kids about this huge news story.

"You shall not kill."

It is one of the Ten Commandments that are taught to children around the world as soon as they begin to study religion. To break that rule is a sin, they are told.

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Yet our country is celebrating the death of terrorist Osama bin Laden—a man U.S. forces hunted down and killed—with speeches, patriotic songs and spontaneous gatherings of people delighted to hear of the demise of the leader of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

With the Internet and social networking, children have been bombarded by text messages, tweets and Facebook status updates about bin Laden's death. But do they really understand what they're reading?

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When do you tell your kids about something like 9/11 or Osama bin Laden being killed? How do you explain the contradiction that it's wrong to kill someone, but in this case the president said it was justified?

We’re asking parents to weigh in. What questions are your children asking? At what age do you start talking to your kids about bin Laden’s death? How are you responding to the situation?


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