As terror takes over television and the national consciousness,
children may be confused.

In most Georgia counties, the University of Georgia Extension
Service has agents trained in family and consumer science and
youth development.

“Nothing could prepare us for this unspeakable disaster,” Bower
said. “But there are resources to consider as we all try to find
some meaning in this madness.”

The Extension Service and the UGA College of Family and Consumer
Sciences have created and posted publications to help families
discuss this tragedy with children.

The publications can be found on the Internet at http://www.fc
s.uga.edu/extension/index.html or by contacting your
county Extension Service agent.

“Most of these publications deal with helping others, especially
young people, cope with the grief we are experiencing personally
and as a nation,” Bower said.

A basic point to remember:

Children don’t have an automatic fear response to news reports.
They look primarily to the adults around them for cues on which
emotional response to adopt. If their parents and teachers are
calm, then children will respond with calm, too.

Parents and teachers should carefully monitor their own reactions
to the news reports, Bower said. This simple act will prevent
most of the problems clinical psychologists worry about.

While helping young people work though this horror, Bower said,
“be sensitive, too, to adults who may already be struggling with
depression and anxiety.”