Words of Post-Trauma Encouragement for Parents from LeVar Burton

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• on December 16, 2012
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“Kids have an amazingly accurate radar for being aware of what’s going on around them, even when the adults in their lives are pretending like nothing is happening. And so my experience is that you really are best served by being age-appropriately candid with children, especially when it comes to dealing with their fears. These events terrorize all of us – adults as well as children. And I can certainly remember from my childhood the way my imagination used to fill in the blanks, absent any concrete information from the adults in my world.

“And so my advice to parents is always to let our kids know that whatever you’re experiencing, it’s OK – A – that B, we have to let them know that the person who’s responsible for this is no longer a threat to anyone. You have to let them know that they’re safe, and then you have to get back to your regular routine in life, especially during these times. We all crave structure. We all crave the safety.

“In a world that seems completely and unbelievably unsafe, we will find comfort and safety in those routines that remind us that, you know, life is normal. We have to find a new normal, and we have to find a way to get through it every day. And getting through it with each other and supporting and loving one another is really what it’s about.”

LeVar Burton, Executive Producer and Host of Reading Rainbow, 1983-2009
Copyright 2012 National Public Radio

Thank you, LeVar Burton, for words of wisdom and encouragement.