Children told about war in Russia in school

[ShepherdMoons]

Dd is a sensitive soul in year 3 and today their class was told that people in Ukraine are having to leave their country with their pets for fear of being shot by Russians (this is the gist of what dd says). We haven't spoken about this at home.

AIBU to think the school shouldn't be talking to such young children about this?

Although teachers will do an excellent job of explaining the Ukrainian war, it’s parents responsibility to talk to their children.

@ShepherdMoons

How? With puppets?

So rude and insensitive!!

Maybe it’s best if you pull your child out of school, OP. It’ll be easier for you to isolate her from the world.

Either way your son will hear about, surely better to hear facts from a teacher. We can’t shield our children from the goings on in the world when they are at this level

I think op has a point,my dcs don't know anything about the war in Ukraine. I don't plan on telling them.

I think op has a point,my dcs don't know anything about the war in Ukraine. I don't plan on telling them.
So are you going to keep them away from their friends, the internet, TV and anywhere that sells newspapers?

If not, they’ll hear about it soon enough.

[quote ShepherdMoons]@oncemoreunto you'll be the first to find out for sure. I will consult with my team of well informed 10 year olds and then have a chat with Putin. Sorted.[/quote]
So you have lots of sarcastic responses but you still haven’t addressed everyones point that she’d have heard about it on the playground anyway, but with bonus dramatics and exaggeration! Is that really what you’d prefer?

@venusmay

I think op has a point,my dcs don't know anything about the war in Ukraine. I don't plan on telling them.

How old are your children?

YABU OP. So unless you take your DC out of school and keep them away from people and the news, you need to get used to them learning about the world and how shit it is sometimes

I know several schools in the UK who are going to run fundraising events, it isn't something that can be hidden very easily (regardless of whether it should be)

@venusmay

I think op has a point,my dcs don't know anything about the war in Ukraine. I don't plan on telling them.

How do you know? If you haven't spoken to them about it yourself, then you can't possibly know what they may or may not have heard in school.

@ShepherdMoons

I'm finding this whole thread a bit ridiculous and bizarre. There are wars ongoing throughout the world and yet we need to educate our children about a war that has been ongoing for five days and may be resolved in the next few days.

My kids know about these wars though. I find it more odd yours don't.

'How to fit a whale in a suitcase' is a fab book for younger children on leaving your home. 'The journey' is another good one.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr is good for 9-10 yos. It's a fictionalised account of Judith Kerr's own childhood experiences as a refugee from Nazi Germany in the 1930s - her family was Jewish.

educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/25/help-for-teachers-and-families-to-talk-to-pupils-about-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-and-how-to-help-them-avoid-misinformation/

I think children are far more aware of the world around them than we give them credit for.

And given news is 24 hours these days and everywhere, it's impossible to avoid. Other children will be talking about this. It's far better that they hear age appropriate truth than over exaggerated playground stories.

I've always been open and honest with my children with regards to news stories in an age appropriate way. They need to know that I will be honest with them, and if I say I don't know something, it's not because I'm trying to cover it up.

My parents were the same way with me. It didn't rob my childhood being aware of news stories. I remember watching the space shuttle challenger. Chernobyl etc. it comforted me knowing I could ask my parents questions and they wouldn't try to ignore them.

@ShepherdMoons

Did someone actually say that they discussed 9/11 with their three year old????!!!!

At that time I was the teacher in a school Nursery class and remember watching a 4 year old repeatedly build two brick towers and crash a toy plane into them. I didn't attempt to discuss it but he was obviously aware of it and trying to process it in his own way. If the pp's daughter saw it on TV (hard not to) then it was right to discuss it in an age appropriate way.

@LouisRenault that's a fab book- was one of my favourites at that age.

The boy at the back of the class is another good book, it looks at a Refuge child settling into a new school.

Yeah let's hide our children from the realities of life!!! Children learn alot from world wide atrocious. Do you turn off the telly when a water aid advert or such like comes on?

@ShepherdMoons - I agree with you. I had a similar situation when my DS was 7. He was far too young to comprehend the situation. I was actually called into school to discuss my DS's reaction! I was quite blunt. How on earth do you expect a 7 yr old to comprehend people getting killed in another country. It's complicated, no one really understands why or can explain. Telling such young kids puts the fear of god into them and it's so far from their reality. Why is that necessary. They did it in a school assembly, so kids from 6-11. There's a big difference in their mental understanding at those age ranges.

Of course they should! That way it can be dealt with in an age -appropriate, sensitive way, and the kids can ask questions rather than the many wrong ways, i.e. older kids being overly graphic when telling them information, or parents pulling the wool over their eyes and pretending the world is all nicey nicey and that baddies don't exist!

[quote ShepherdMoons]@Ff10n you see i was pig ignorant as a child and had no idea about the nuclear threat. Happy as a pig in muck and no idea about nuclear bombs, I am so glad I didn't know all about it. Plenty of time to be responsible and conscientious as an adult.[/quote]
Well this is exactly it. You were fortunate not to hear. I did hear, lots of awful things about enough bombs to destroy the whole world, about people's skin being peeled off and others being vaporised into nothing. But it was from friends in the playground, kids who were sensationalist and just wanted to freak other kids out. Simple proportionate explanations from trusted adults would have been far, far preferable.
And just think how much more media and news is available nowadays than 40 years ago, and how many more children there are in Britain who originate from Eastern Europe and may have family members directly involved. It's futile to think you could have hidden it from your kids for long.

Yabu, it’s an important topic and school is a good place for it to be discussed in an age appropriate way and make sure they are told the facts.
My ds was year 1 or 2 when he learnt about children in Syria been bombed.

They were probably shown today's special edition of Newsround which explained the issue very well, in a child appropriate way. I'm a Yr6 Teaching Partner & we spent almost 1hr today explaining, discussing, answering questions, addressing concerns & showing the children Newsround. It was definitely an hour well spent as there was a lot of panic & misinformation floating around. We really underestimate children sometimes - they had some insightful observations & questions.

I know dc primary school show them newsround regularly- I approve but watched it at home myself today to understand what they would have seen we had already been talking about it a bit tbh