Talking about celebrity deaths with young kids

[Anonymous]

You people are weird.

Why would you tell your child anything about these celebrities is beyond me. No kid needs adult world news.

Don't do drugs. That's all you need to enforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I forgot to tell my DD (9) about Carrie Fisher last night. She saw it on the news this morning and came upstairs crying while I was in the shower. So yeah, kids do notice and care.

Of course, because Carrie Fisher is Princess Leia.

That is why she was crying. Because Princess Leia died, not because some celebrity died.

That is what people.keep saying. Very few celebrities prpvide that kind of connection to kids. Carrie Fisher is an anomoly. If she had not done Star Wars your daughter would jot have had this kind of reaction. Same goes for that list of OPs. No kindergartener is going to be grief stricken over George Michaels passing away. Unless her mom makes a big deal out of bringing it to her attention, she will not even notice he is gone. It is not like the lower elementary set is going to be sitting around circle and share time discussing the impsct George Michaels had on their life and how shocked they are that he is gone. He is just some old guy that their mom used to have a crush on and whose music she occassionally plays.

Kids have an emotional connection to Princess Leia, especially girls. Kids do not have even a oittle connection to the rest of those celebrities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I forgot to tell my DD (9) about Carrie Fisher last night. She saw it on the news this morning and came upstairs crying while I was in the shower. So yeah, kids do notice and care.

Of course, because Carrie Fisher is Princess Leia.

That is why she was crying. Because Princess Leia died, not because some celebrity died.

That is what people.keep saying. Very few celebrities prpvide that kind of connection to kids. Carrie Fisher is an anomoly. If she had not done Star Wars your daughter would jot have had this kind of reaction. Same goes for that list of OPs. No kindergartener is going to be grief stricken over George Michaels passing away. Unless her mom makes a big deal out of bringing it to her attention, she will not even notice he is gone. It is not like the lower elementary set is going to be sitting around circle and share time discussing the impsct George Michaels had on their life and how shocked they are that he is gone. He is just some old guy that their mom used to have a crush on and whose music she occassionally plays.

Kids have an emotional connection to Princess Leia, especially girls. Kids do not have even a oittle connection to the rest of those celebrities.

Speak for your own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why woukd you need to discuss these deaths with a young kid?

The only person on that list that kids know and care about is Princess Leia.

Since she looked very old to them in the Force Awakens, you just need to say "Yes, she was very old and her heart stopped working" if it comes up in conversation. Nothing more.

George Michaels means nothing to kids. They have no idea who he is and he is not enough of a star to have been on any kid's radar.

They won't know who those other people are either.

Don't speak for everyone, please.

My child, age 6, knows who Prince, George Michael, and Carrie Fisher are. Also Bowie, who kicked off the celebrity death year. Telling a child "Yes, she was very old and her heart stopped working" opens the door for "She's the same age as Grandma!" and "But Mommy, YOU'RE really old!"

You can explain that people die from a lot of things. For example, DD's great-grandmother (who she is named after) died of cancer. David Bowie died of cancer. So when she asked how David Bowie died, we told her, "He had cancer like your great-grandma, and the doctors were not able to save him." She knows what a heart attack is, so when she heard DH mention to me that Carrie Fisher died, I told her, "She had a heart attack."

In any case, your comment is not relevant to a lot of kids.

Your kid knows who those people are but he doesn't care. There is not reason to bring this up. He is a kid. Those are just some old people that mom listens to. no need to fill him with more information than developmentally appropriate.

And yes, old people die. Kids know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I forgot to tell my DD (9) about Carrie Fisher last night. She saw it on the news this morning and came upstairs crying while I was in the shower. So yeah, kids do notice and care.

Of course, because Carrie Fisher is Princess Leia.

That is why she was crying. Because Princess Leia died, not because some celebrity died.

That is what people.keep saying. Very few celebrities prpvide that kind of connection to kids. Carrie Fisher is an anomoly. If she had not done Star Wars your daughter would jot have had this kind of reaction. Same goes for that list of OPs. No kindergartener is going to be grief stricken over George Michaels passing away. Unless her mom makes a big deal out of bringing it to her attention, she will not even notice he is gone. It is not like the lower elementary set is going to be sitting around circle and share time discussing the impsct George Michaels had on their life and how shocked they are that he is gone. He is just some old guy that their mom used to have a crush on and whose music she occassionally plays.

Kids have an emotional connection to Princess Leia, especially girls. Kids do not have even a oittle connection to the rest of those celebrities.

Gee my girls are very aware of Princess Leia and weren't the least bit phased about her death.

[Anonymous]

We talked to our 10 year old about it because he is quite intostar Wars. At age 10, we did talk about the fact the actor did drugs and that may have shortened her life, as well as the fact she lost a lot of weight very quickly. He was more interested in talking about how the makers of the movie were going to handle it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why woukd you need to discuss these deaths with a young kid?

The only person on that list that kids know and care about is Princess Leia.

Since she looked very old to them in the Force Awakens, you just need to say "Yes, she was very old and her heart stopped working" if it comes up in conversation. Nothing more.

George Michaels means nothing to kids. They have no idea who he is and he is not enough of a star to have been on any kid's radar.

They won't know who those other people are either.

+1.

Agree with this, not necessary