Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

Washington DC – U.S. Representative Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) has distributed a helpful guide to school administrators throughout California’s central valley school districts to assist schools’ efforts in talking to children about war and threats of terrorism.

“There are few things more difficult to explain to children than the reason for going to war and why anyone would want to cause pain and disaster to the United States of America,” said Cardoza. “War is confusing and we must remember that our children, who are growing up reading about the war and watching stories about it on television, may not fully understand what is happening and why.”

The National Center for Children Exposed to Violence at the Yale Child Study Center has produced two packets, one entitled “In the Setting of War: Teachers’ Guide for Talking to Your Students” and the other entitled “Parents’ Guide for Talking to their Children about War.”

This effort may give some comfort to students about their safety and will serve to give them and their teachers and parents more information. “I think these tools can be very useful to teachers as they talk to children about war, particularly when they may not be sure what to say or how to say it,” said Cardoza. “As a father of three young children, I realized how delicate these issues are and how tough it can be to communicate them to kids.”

The cover letter and guides were sent to all public school superintendents and principals throughout the 18th Congressional District and private schools. They were welcomed by the school officials, such as Merced County Superintendent of Schools, Lee Andersen. “I truly appreciate having information produced by experts on topics as difficult as discussing war and terrorism with children,” said Superintendent Andersen.