Valuable Lessons for our Children

Last week Americans reflected on one of the darkest moments in our nation's history, September 11, 2001. We all remember where we were that day, and I can tell you how I spent much of my day—battling traffic jams leaving downtown Washington D.C., where I worked, to get back to our school-aged children. My family didn't have a plan for emergencies then. You see, we had just moved to the D.C. area a couple of weeks before, we did not know neighbors, our boxes were still mostly packed, and our kids didn't have any idea where to go if Mom could not pick them up after school. One of my personal heroes of 9/11 was the school aide who would not go home to check on his own family until every single one of his charges had been claimed by a parent or caretaker.

How much things have changed since then! Today, our family has a supply of water, canned foods (and a can-opener) and energy bars, essential medications and first aid supplies, a crank-powered radio (although a battery-powered one with extra, fresh batteries would do nicely, too) and a couple of flashlights. And perhaps more importantly, we have an emergency plan, and we all know what it is.

We all want our children to feel safe in the world, and so, as parents, we are reluctant to discuss frightening ideas with them, like what they would do if a parent or caretaker could not pick them up at school or day-care. We don't want them to think about a storm so big that they might need to leave their home. But just as we buy life insurance to protect them if something happens to us, and get them the inoculations that protect them against serious illness, we protect our children best if we are prepared. In the context of emergency preparedness that means that they need to be prepared, too.

Who better to do this for our youngest children than their Sesame Street friends – who our kids know and trust? Sesame Workshop, together with the Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Kids Campaign has developed a new bilingual initiative called "Let's Get Ready!" It is an interactive, on-line tool and resource, featuring Grover and Rosita. It aims to empower kids to prepare for emergencies by familiarizing them, in a non-threatening way, with what they would need to expect if an emergency happens.

I hope that you will share the friendly and essential information that "Let's Get Ready!" offers with your children and the children in your community. It will help them feel stronger, more capable, and more ready to deal with whatever life may bring their way. And isn't this one of the most valuable lessons that caretakers and parents can provide to our children?

Mrs. Meryl Chertoff