Following the attacks, parents - who are probably distressed themselves - face the challenge of explaining to kids what happened and why. Katy Gosset looks at what they've been saying.
In the wake of the terror attacks in Christchurch, parents - who are probably suffering distress themselves - face the challenge of explaining to their kids what happened and why. Katy Gosset looks at what they've been saying.
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'Three-year-old Sadie* sits on a blanket in North Hagley Park, in the midst of a large crowd. She rustles a bag of chips close to my microphone and clutches her father's arm.
She is attending the National Remembrance Day following the 15 March terror attacks in which 51 Muslim worshippers died after being shot at two Christchurch mosques.
While she may not be following the speeches from our Prime Minister and members of the Muslim community, her father Michael* says Sadie gets that something big has happened.
"She understands that a number of people have died and it's very sad but also that she's safe."
Still he's been reluctant to provide too much detail
"She clearly knows that something's going on. It's trying to figure out the right amount to tell her really."
Seven-year-old Ben* has also been pushing for some answers.
His mother Jenny* says he'd heard that a gun was involved in the attacks.
"He said, 'Were people killed?' and we said, 'Yes.' Then he wanted to know how many."
She was reluctant to give a specific number.
"He's seven, so 50, he knows that that's a big number."
Her son also asked why it happened.
"I didn't really know even where to start with that one."
What Jenny 'ended up saying' was that a person who was 'really angry" and who 'hated people' had carried out the killings.
Because, like all parents, she had to say something.
Clinical psychologist Catherine Gallagher said young children initially needed only to hear the basics.
"In this case they need to know that something scary happened, that the grown-ups all did what they were supposed to do. People got hurt and we're loving and supporting the people who got hurt to help them through this experience."
Ms Gallagher said simplifying things did not mean minimising what had happened and she warned against glossing over the events.
However, it was important to let children know the immediate danger had passed…