The World Is Messy and Ugly. Do My Kids Need to Know?

On this episode: Zak, Jamilah and Elizabeth help a listener who’s struggling with a deep pessimism about the state of this country — and he wants to make sure that his kids have some hope to hold onto. 

We also go over our week in parenting triumphs and fails. Then, if you’re sticking around for Slate Plus, we’ll share some strategies for explaining the war in Gaza to kids – and hopefully not frightening them in the process.

On that topic, here are some resources that our hosts wanted to share:

• From the New York Times: What I Told My Daughter About The War
• From NPR: How to talk to children about the violence in Israel and Gaza
• From The National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Talking to Children about War

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. 

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Mom and Dad are Fighting. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie and Rosemary Belson.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices