--- title: Orlando Shooting: How to Talk to Your Kids description: Child development experts weigh in on talking to children of all ages about attacks in the news. canonical: https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/ author: Belinda Luscombe article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-13T16:03:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:27:43.260Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Talk to Your Kids About the Orlando Shooting og:description: Child development experts say parents shouldn't ignore their anxiety og:url: https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29d2c565b4dc01f7/6988978e656a3f32f9bcbe4d/gettyimages-539779162.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Vigil in Orlando for victims of the Orlando Terrorist Massacre og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Talk to Your Kids About the Orlando Shooting twitter:description: Child development experts say parents shouldn't ignore their anxiety twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29d2c565b4dc01f7/6988978e656a3f32f9bcbe4d/gettyimages-539779162.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Talk to Your Kids About the Orlando Shooting > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=eab46ee7-feec-407c-bfc1-7869ea650718&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Orlando Shooting Presser [Watch (HLS stream): Orlando Shooting Presser](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gbEuJAtq.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2016-06-13. One day after the worst shooting in modern U.S. history, Orlando police described the chilling final moments of the massacre, when gunman Omar Mateen holed himself up with hostages in bathroom of nightclub and spoke to negotiators._  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Jun 13, 2016 4:03 PM UTC One day after the worst shooting in modern U.S. history, Orlando police described the chilling final moments of the massacre, when gunman Omar Mateen holed himself up with hostages in bathroom of nightclub and spoke to negotiators.  by [Belinda Luscombe](https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/)  ## Belinda Luscombe Editor at Large Jun 13, 2016 4:03 PM UTC For kids, Orlando is usually known as the home of the so-called “happiest place on earth,” Disney World, but that has been the opposite of true since [the shooting at a gay nightclub](http://time.com/4365988/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-police-pulse/?xid=homepage) in that city on the early morning of June 12\. Because kids may have already heard of Orlando, it’s possible they are alerted more to events there than usual and have questions for their parents. While it’s natural to want to shield kids, especially young ones from horrible and terrifying events, parents should be ready to answer any questions their children have, say child development experts. This is a very tricky story to tell and it’s O.K. to say that you don’t have all the answers. It’s also perfectly natural to be upset and sad, but experts suggest that you keep as calm a demeanor as you can manage when talking to them, because kids very much pick up their cues from parents. Experts always encourage parents to trust their instincts. Kids vary in levels of anxiety, and vulnerability. You know your kid and what they can handle better than anyone. Tragically, this is not the first big attack that parents may have had cause to talk to their kids about. After the attacks in Paris in November 2015, TIME asked prominent child development experts for guidance on how to discuss these event with their children. That advice, below is relevant again today. --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:00] We used our armored vehicle, BearCat armored vehicle [00:03] to punch a hole in that wall and defeat the wall. So [00:07] there's a hole in the wall about two feet off the ground [00:09] and about two or three feet wide. We were able to [00:12] rescue dozens and dozens of people that came out of [00:16] that hole. The suspect Came out of that hole himself, [00:21] armed with a handgun and a long gun. Engaged in a [00:25] gun battle with officers, where he was ultimately killed. [00:29] We're gonna continue to work hard to take care of [00:31] these families, and make sure we try to get this [00:34] community back and the state back, we'll work as [00:36] quickly as we can. But right now it's time to grieve for [00:39] each family member that either lost a loved one or still [00:42] has somebody in the hospital injured. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/"},"headline":"How to Talk to Your Kids About the Orlando Shooting","datePublished":"2016-06-13T16:03:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-06T09:27:43.260Z","description":"Don't ignore their anxiety, but be reassuring","url":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/","keywords":["Parenting","Living","Family","kids","How-To","shootings","Orlando"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29d2c565b4dc01f7/6988978e656a3f32f9bcbe4d/gettyimages-539779162.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Belinda Luscombe","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/belinda-luscombe/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29d2c565b4dc01f7/6988978e656a3f32f9bcbe4d/gettyimages-539779162.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vigil in Orlando for victims of the Orlando Terrorist Massacre","caption":"Vigil in Orlando for victims of the Orlando Terrorist Massacre","creditText":"Anadolu Agency—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/parenting/","name":"Parenting"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/","name":"How to Talk to Your Kids About the Orlando Shooting"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Orlando Shooting Presser","description":"One day after the worst shooting in modern U.S. history, Orlando police described the chilling final moments of the massacre, when gunman Omar Mateen holed himself up with hostages in bathroom of nightclub and spoke to negotiators.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gbEuJAtq/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-06-13T13:28:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gbEuJAtq.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4366400/orlando-shooting-parenting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```