How do we explain gun violence to our kids?

After a mass shooting at The Covenant School that killed 3 adults and 3 children, a woman mourns in front of an impromptu memorial. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Note: This story was written for OnlySky after the mass shooting at Tops grocery store in Buffalo NY in May 2022. After the most recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Tennessee, I thought it apropos to bring it here, to the new Secular Parenting column on Medium. I’m looking forward to your comments.

How do we strike a balance between honesty and shielding when we discuss Sunday’s mass shooting in Buffalo? (or any of the dozens that have occurred this year)

I’m at a loss. Saturday’s mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store is all over our local news. Not surprisingly, it’s the number one topic of conversation since it occurred about 45 minutes away from where we live in Western NY. In fact, I used to have an office not far from the store.

My oldest son (11) already started asking questions about the incident on Sunday. We told him something bad happened but we didn’t get into the details yet.

Then, a shooting at a California church. And a Houston flea market.

We try to be as honest with our kids as possible about the world around us. We don’t want to shelter them, but we also don’t…