Hey webinar lovers,
I am surprised to learn that some people are upset or offended about our upcoming webinar on how to help children cope with scary events. I never anticipated that an effort to provide my colleagues with information about helping children who are fearful due to recent events would be so divisive. In fact, when we produced similar webinars in the past, no one objected. So, here’s our statement about the webinar on Tuesday, January 19, Scary News and Young Children: How to Help Children Cope with Violence Around Them:
I consider this period of time a national emergency for young children, their families, and their educators. , In my opinion, it is our responsibility as early educators to set aside our personal political views so we can educate ourselves about how to help children. The webinar is not a political statement, it is an effort, as always, to help early educators.
Some people have complained that we did not cover similar topics during the protests this summer. In fact, we did offer webinars in response to the brutality during this period, they just did not have the same title. The topics were trauma, media, racial justice, and equity. In addition, in late 2015 when angry rhetoric heated up during the runup to the 2016 election we launched a series of webinars in response. Please refer to the Recordings and Slides page on our website to see all of the content.
BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS: What makes the attack on the Capitol very different is that it was an antagonistic planned attack with the intention of overcoming our government. It was not a protest. We always tell children to “look for the helpers,” and it was the helpers being attacked. Children are traumatized to see the people they are supposed to turn to in an emergency being attacked. There were images of military and police officers being brutalized while American flags flew above, and our country’s leaders locked in a room while people beat down the doors. It was no less traumatizing to see people who were exercising their right to peaceful protests being traumatized by police officers. We addressed that and we are addressing the attack on the capital. It’s all very frightening, and our goal is to help educators help children cope. Please put aside your personal bias and think about the children and your professional responsibility to care for their mental health and social-emotional development.
I hope this helps everyone understand our intentions.
Warmly,
Fran
Fran Simon, M.Ed.
Engagement Strategies
Early Childhood Investigations Webinars
