The link below is to a post I wrote six years ago. Recently, my four and a half year old granddaughter asked, while we were playing by Facetime: “Are there big problems in the world?” It took her mother and me by surprise and it was at the end of the call, so the moment passed. The next time we spoke, I said that I wanted to answer her big-girl question and told her about hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters, how neighbors come out to help people get to safety and pitch in to help each other long after the initial event.
So, I would add: Tell stories of bravery in the face of real world hardship.
Once a child is in pre-school, even though the family doesn’t expose her to news reports, her companions will bring the news of the world right to the sand box. A New York Times article sites work Dr. Robin Fivush and colleagues at Emory University have done that explores the relationship between child and adolescent resilience and knowledge about family and community stories – even tragic and difficult ones. A cited their work in the area of family story, which relates here – what family hasn’t experienced failure, loss, sickness or some other distress?
Healthy Media Choices 