DOVER — Parents are being encouraged by local and national
experts to start a dialogue with their children about last
week’s devastating school shootings in Connecticut. For some
very young children in kindergarten and preschool, talking about
the event this week might not be appropriate. But for older
children, and those who have already learned of the elementary
school massacre, child trauma experts say parents should look
for ways to start a conversation with their children about the
event. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network,
a federally-funded organization, avoiding the subject can be
harmful because it can create a heightened sense of danger in a
child’s mind. “Silence suggests that what has occurred is too
horrible even to speak about or that you do not know what has
happened,” reads information provided by the group in the wake
of the Newtown shootings. “With social media (e.g., Facebook,
Twitter, text messages, newsbreaks on favorite radio and TV
stations, and others), it is high