Talking to Your Kids About September 11

The anniversary of the September 11 attacks was Thursday. I see no better time to tell you, the reader, the necessity of talking to your kids about the catastrophe and what it all means to them.

First thing is first. Some younger children, the stupid ones especially, may think with all the news coverage that the September 11 events are happening now. Assure them that they have missed it, that it has already happened. If possible, try to make them think it was a lot cooler than it actually was. Tell them everyone was there and there was weed and free beer. This will ease the pain of thinking we all went through hell.

It is important the children know the truth about what happened to the United States on that day. But then again, what is truth, really? Make sure they know the U.S. was doing its part to make the world a better place for everyone when out of nowhere, without provocation, the devil's lackeys swooped down and destroyed several expensive buildings—and more than that, they destroyed our spirit. And though all those directly involved were instantly killed in the collisions, we will not rest until we find those indirectly responsible.

To kids, terrorism seems like a big, unstoppable thing that is faceless and too complicated to kill. Make sure they know that's not the case. Show them pictures of terrorists, like Osama bin Laden, and tell them who they are. Then make fun of the stupid way terrorists dress and those things they wear on their head.

The total number of casualties from the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, as well as the Pennsylvania crash that claimed Flight 93, are continually being re-figured. An accurate count is impossible. Just guesstimate when you tell your kids how many died. A number between 2,000 and 30 million is usually considered pretty close.

It's important that kids know the government is doing everything to keep them safe. When kids ask how we're stopping terrorism, show them the little color chart on the bottom of the Fox News screen with the different color. The yellow means we're close to safe. Show them the elevated security at airports, and how pulling black or brown people out of line to be frisked means everybody else is terrorism-free. If you can manage it, tell them how our invading Iraq helps stop terrorism. And then send a letter to the president—I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

Your kids may ask questions like, "How could God let something like this happen?" Kids ask quite a few dumb questions. How you deal with that is your business, I'm not foolhardy enough to lecture you on religion. But if you need any help, tell them that God allows people to do what they will with free will, and that it's our job to make peace with each other. I don't buy it either, so if they think it's crap, tell them God is lazy. Sometimes things like that make children cry, and if you don't think children crying is funny, then try this old time-tested favorite: God lets people die because he really likes those people and wants them with him in Heaven. Thus if your children are still alive, God doesn't like them. Now that ought to be pretty funny.

If your children still don't understand, then there may be something wrong with them. It's easy enough to figure out—something extremely terrible happened in 2001. So terrible, in fact, the media can dig into the graves and feast on the juicy, succulent fear and grief once every year now, when the news is particularly dull. Mmmm… suffering!

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