Did Anyone Here Have To Explain The Iraq War To Young Children?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Either, your own kids, or maybe one of you out there is a school teacher?

Anybody?

I was wondering how exactly someone who hasn't drank the koolaid would explain to a small child exactly why America is at war with Iraq.

It must be tough to explain it to kids, especially since most adults are clueless about explaining the war.

How did you...or rather how would you...explain it to a 6 year old?

[Maine-i-acs]

1. I have ...

The youngest one is too young to see the pictures or ask.

The middle child only needed reassurance that the war was far away and that Daddy and a lot of other people wanted it to end as soon as possible.

The oldest (age 8)is getting a lot of questions answered as to why the war is illegal and why Daddy wants the appointed pResident to get a new job...I have also talked to her about the Draft, and why a lot of other countries in the world don't like the current Administration.

Basically I answer anything they ask instead of brushing it under the rug. And I let them do a lot of the talking.

[elfwitch]

2. Haven't exactly

We never watch things that show "the war" so my son doesn't see any of it. Whenever it comes up on The Daily Show, he is more interested in Jon than whatever they are talking about.

Whenever there is a picture or video of * somewhere, we tell him that that is a bad bad man. He always asks if the bad man is going to get a spanking. We tell him that we hope somebody does.

[redqueen]

3. Yes

A child in my 6 yr old's kindergarten class has a parent in Iraq. My daughter came home asking questions. I explained as little as possible. She asked was there a war and I said yes, that people are fighting far away and that we should pray for everyone there. She seemed satisfied - at least she didn't ask any more, and I was grateful for that.

Oh, and I think her teacher may be a bible-thumping freeper. *sigh*

[Red_Viking]

4. I'm still laughing about * getting a spanking!

Sheesh. Classic. Who wouldn't pay to see that??

My daughter is 13, so she's a little more aware of what's going on. She also gets a daily dose of Channel 1 (owned by Clear Channel) at school. Here's the good part: she's already a flaming left-winger. So, her first period teacher has learned to give my daughter a few minutes after the Channel 1 broadcast for some counter-point information. She's very well-informed about the war, the lies that took us there, and the repurcussions. She takes on her classmates routinely who are fascinated with the war, since it's like a big video game, right? One kid wears a tee shirt that says "Texas is bigger than France." She explained to him how stupid that was, then complained to a teacher when he wore a "Terrorist Hunting Season" shirt. You gotta wonder what some folks tell their children at home.

My SO has young children, 8 and 6. They asked questions about the war. He explained that our government wanted something Iraq has, so they made up lies to go to war and steal from them. He also made sure they know this is the first time the US has invaded another country. He used a great analogy:

There's a man who owns a gas station on the corner. We decide we want the gas station, and we don't like the man any more. So we drive through the front window, shoot him and his family, and take everything he has. Then we change the name on the gas station and run it as ours.

Sounds accurate to me.

:dem:

RV

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. damn

your kid's sharp!

:thumbsup:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Why pay to see it when you can do it for free?

http://www.spankbush.com/

:evilgrin:

[noonwitch]

6. No, but my sister has to a 4 year old. George means stupid in their house

This is the kid that asked my sister if George W. Bush killed Jesus. She asks a lot of questions about things she catches on tv.

Last summer, when the beach (Lake Michigan!) was closed, she asked my sister why. My sister explained pollution, and said that George Bush rolled back the laws that prevented polluting lakes. The child wanted to write him a letter, but only being three at the time, couldn't do that. So my sister took dictation. The first draft began:

Dear President Bush:
Why are you so stupid?

My sister said, well, we can't send him this, it wouldn't be right. They ended up with a letter that told him that she was scared that the lake was dirty, and could he do something to make people stop polluting it and if it's clean he can come visit her and they could go swimming together. Needless to say, they never got a response.

[elfwitch]

7. I like the first letter better.

I don't even think my son would say that about *.
We don't ever really use the word stupid at home.

[SarahB]

9. Yes

I have an 8 year old son with two friends who have fathers in Iraq. It's hard sometimes, but I'm truthful. Children are much smarter than most people give them credit for. I think many of the basic concepts as to why this is wrong can be grasped by a 5 or 6 year old. Not that they need to know all the gorry details, but I'd rather they have my viewpoint than that of the national media.