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I have to disagree. My kids have seen the images and had them explained. They understand fully the price of freedom. I showed them the film of the military personnel fleeing the Pentagon in an almost moblike way, as they leave the fenced in area someone shouts or bullhorns that people are trapped and that volunteers are needed immediately.....that crowd of military personnel TO A MAN (and plenty of women) ALL take one glance back at the Pentagon and then ALL turn back and start RUNNING back to the fire. God that makes me proud and I'm proud for my kids to see it.

The NEA and the television networks are not going to sugarcoat it for my kids. We aren't going to light a memorial candle but are going to fly the Betsy Ross. We will watch the scenes of destruction again and we will talk about it, what it means, what we have done about it in the last year, what we are probably going to do about it in the next year, and how much we owe those who are going to do it for us.

My one disagreement with you would be for pre-school children, who can't understand political and military stuff.

The reason I say this is because my grandson, who saw a lot of the initial coverage, had a skewed idea of what had happened, which we only discovered by accident.

Children 9 or older, I agree with you. Children 5-9, parents should use their judgement. Under 5, send them outside to play.

Outstanding. I never believed in shielding the truth. It is best left to the parent. Something this country sorely needs, is parents explaining events, and teaching their own how to watch/read, news/reports, in a discerning manner.

I showed them the film of the military personnel fleeing the Pentagon in an almost moblike way, as they leave the fenced in area someone shouts or bullhorns that people are trapped and that volunteers are needed immediately.....that crowd of military personnel TO A MAN (and plenty of women) ALL take one glance back at the Pentagon and then ALL turn back and start RUNNING back to the fire. God that makes me proud and I'm proud for my kids to see it.

REALLY? That's the first I heard of it, believe it or not. Truly awesome, thank you for enlightening me! Brought a big lingering smile to my face. Wait...yep, it's still there. :)

I have to disagree. My kids have seen the images and had them explained.

This is age dependent......and parents will be the most qualified to determine what is appropriate.

I have to disagree. My kids have seen the images and had them explained.

I go with the same angle.
I fairly well remember spending the weekend with my parents (at my father's parents farm house)
watching the aftermath of assassination and the funeral/procession for
JFK.

I was six at the time, concerned and saddened.
But as much as anything, I could tell this was a VERY BIG deal and worth worryijng about
just from the concerned looks on the faces of the adults.

Of course, in those days of three-channel television, kids left to their own devices
couldn't get as swamped in the images as today.

I have to urge extreme caution about letting children to young too understand watch this coverage.

I was talking yesterday with an acqaintance on this subject and she told me a horrifiying story about her grandson. It seems that her son-in-law went to NYC on 9/12 last year to help in some capacity or another. The 5 year old boy kept watching the tower collapsing and saying "My daddy's there!" over and over again. The mom thought that he understood that daddy was their helping. But the boy kept thinking that the buildings were falling down over and over and over with his daddy now there. To say that the boy had a hard time was an understatement.

I am all for everyone to learn and understand what happened, but only at a time when such understanding can occur.