"Bad Time Stories"

"Bad Time Stories"
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/first-the-bad-news/?ref=opinion
“Bad Time Stories” is an op-ed piece written by a mother, in which she expresses her fears and anxiety when her daughter questions her about horrible events occurring in the world. Most recently, her daughter became interested in the death of Jdimytai Damour, a Wal-Mart employee, when he was trampled by a crowd outside the store on Black Friday. She did not want her daughter to know of such evils, so she believed it would be best to shield her from this information- she did not want her daughter to know what she believed to be the evils of human nature.
However, this was not the first time her daughter, Emilie, had questioned her about such events. When Emilie had heard about 9/11 and the Holocaust at school, her mother was upset that teachers had not protected the children from this information. Essentially, she believed that children should be kept in the dark about these events and live a life they believe to be all good and happy, free of fear and anxiety.
Personally, I believe that Warner was too overprotective of Emilie. How can she expect her daughter to live a perfect life and never encounter any bad situations? Although these events may be challenging for parents and their children to discuss and deal with, it is essential that children learn about this because the only way we can improve the situation is through knowledge.
Also, no matter how much Warner tries to protect her daughter, it is inevitable that she will learn of events such as these through classmates and teachers and begin to question her mother once again. Wouldn't Warner feel better if she herself was the one to pass along the information to her daughter so she could help her cope with her reactions?
Either way, children in our society will be exposed to tragic and frightening situations, and it is parents' responsibility to provide their children with information and resources for help and information, so we can create a society in which children can learn from history and make the future a brighter place.