“They’ve got guns. They can shoot us because they’re very, very bad, Daddy.”
These are not words that belong in the mouth of a young child. Yet, in the aftermath of the terror attacks on Paris, the deadliest assault the city has seen since WW II, no one is safe from fear and grief.
How does one have a conversation with one’s kid about terrorism? How does one explain to them the complicated history of geo-political conflicts and resentments? Most importantly, how does a parent ensure their child’s emotional safety in times of terror, without keeping them ignorant of the world around them? This last question, at least, is answered beautifully in the following video that has been shared virally on Facebook.
The father, identified later as one Angel Le, is present with his son at the Bataclan theatre, the primary site of carnage, where the following conversation takes place:
Boy: They’ve got guns. They can shoot us because they’re very, very bad, Daddy.
Father: They’ve got guns but we have flowers.
Boy: But flowers don’t do anything. They’re for... they’re for... they’re for...
Father: Look, everyone is laying flowers here.
Boy: Yes.
Father: It’s to fight against the guns.
Boy: Is it for protection?
Father: That’s right.
Boy: And the candles too?
Father: They’re so we don’t forget the people who have gone.
Boy: Oh. The flowers and candles are there to protect us?
Father: Yes.
Journalist: Do you feel better now?
Boy: Yes, I feel better.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)