A video of a father explaining the Paris attacks to his son has captured our hearts.
In Friday’s aftermath, French news broadcast Le Petit Journal interviewed the unnamed child to ask if he understood what happened in his city and why the shootings happened. “Yes, because they’re really, really mean,” the boy said. “Bad guys are not very nice.”
As the boy began to worry that his family would have to move, the father stepped in. “No, don’t worry. We don’t need to move out,” the dad said. “France is our home.”
The child then hit his father with a heavy dose of reality, saying: “But there's bad guys daddy... they have guns, they can shoot us because they're really, really mean.”
In response, his father gave a simple explanation to ease his son’s worries, which brings comfort to us all.
Watch the video below.
The video was posted to Facebook on Monday and now has over 10.9 million views. The short clip certainly struck a nerve with users, who shared it over 300,000 times.
“Nice work,” one Facebook user wrote. “Very touching, so innocent and this response with the flowers made me cry. There is no better answer.”
Another said: “Bravo to the dad for the touching answer. It is important to explain to children what is happening, and with such images, I even saw the flowers beat the rifles. Bravo for this speech, very beautiful and very touching.”
As the positive comments continued to roll in, the father, Angel Le, left his own heartfelt response. “Good evening, I'm the dad with the little boy, thank you all for the great comments that you have posted for us,” he wrote. “It's when I see all this support that tells me one thing: I'm proud to be French and proud of my fellow countrymen!!! My family and I embrace you.”
On Friday, November 13, at least 129 people were killed and 352 injured in attacks at various venues in Paris.
When talking to your kids about the attacks, Dr. Steven Berkowitz, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania, says it’s important to remind them that they are safe.
“If children younger than six hear of the attacks, tell them that it’s something adults will take care of and that they’re safe,” he told Metro UK.
With older children, Berkowitz recommends having open conversations with them. He also reminds parents: “Don’t hesitate to correct children’s misconceptions about the news; explain, for example, that no one religion or its believers are responsible for acts of violence.”
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