It’s been something thats been going on for a long time in my mind. At what point do you shatter your child’s rose tinted view of the world and introduce them to the harsh reality?

Since the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh 2005 when I took my step-son along for the day I’ve been trying to work out just how to get it across to them. You don’t want to sound like a parent from the 70’s trying to get their family to eat all their food by saying, “There is little brown babies in Africa that would love to have a dinner like that.” My wife and I have tried to explain it to our eldest but whilst he seems to understand at the time it goes right out his mind two minutes later when Ben 10 comes on the TV.

photo credit: hdptcar

I was listening to Faithless’ ‘Mass Destruction’ the other day and it got me thinking again. There is a fine line between knowing about the world around us and having the harsh realities forced upon you at an early age. I usually find it difficult explaining to children why I work where I work. Without going into to much detail I’m involved in the administration side of the UK Government’s aid program. This means I usually end up trying to tell the kids about the Millennium Development Goals and whilst they usually take in what I say they almost always without fail ask that one question that all parents fear, “Why?” In this case it’s a perfectly valid question but how on earth do you answer it without cracking the shield that all children should have that lets them play in their own wee world unaffected by the troubles around them. And at what age is it reasonable to actually encourage children to get involved. From a personal view I was involved with CND from a very young age thanks to my Grandfather and several other relatives being very involved with them as well as growing up with Live Aid and Comic Relief but I know many that until very recently didn’t even know about the threat of famine every year around the world and were gobsmacked that the UK sent aid packages to the USA after Hurricane Katrina.

There are many charities around the world involved with poverty/post conflict relief that are sometimes aimed at children. Comic Relief and Sport Relief in the UK are two of the larger ones with things like Children in Need following closely behind them. Their attitude to showing the kids where the money will go is quite a harsh one and I think it is this particular point that I find the hardest to deal with. On one hand I want my children to be care free and enjoy their childhood but at the same time I want to impress upon them the importance of helping others if you can who are in situations far worse than their own.

How do you deal with this issue?