With five threats in about a week on the Eastside — four of which occurred at schools — it may be difficult for parents to know how to speak with their children about what is happening.

When it comes to conversations about such serious events, parents should keep things age appropriate.

Parent educator and teen life coach Sheri Gazitt of Teen Wise in Redmond said parents with elementary-aged children should only share information their children ask for. If there are older siblings in the family, Gazitt said they should have a separate conversation with them, unless the younger siblings are aware of the events.

Reassuring youth

And while parents should tailor their conversations with their children based on their ages, Gazitt said there are some things they can and should do with their children, regardless of their ages.

First, she said, it is important for parents to stay calm around their children. Even if they are particularly anxious or worried, parents should try to not let their children see that. Gazitt noted that some children may not be worried or affected by what is going on and there is no need to scare them.

“We don’t want to put that emotion on them,” she said.

In addition, Gazitt also advised that parents ask their children how they are, rather than using phrases such as, “You must have been scared,” again so they do not unnecessarily scare their children.

Not a joke

She added that because there have been so many threats in a short amount of time, part of the conversation has shifted. Gazitt said parents should discuss with their children about possible copycats and let them know that while these threats are probably nothing, “we as adults are taking care of it.” She said parents should assure their children that adults are doing what they need to do to take care of the issue.

Gazitt also stressed how parents should let their kids know that these threats are not jokes and they are not funny. She said youth might like to see school canceled but if something serious happens, the severity of the situation may become watered down and not taken as seriously as it should be because there has been a flurry of potential threats leading up to it.

Real-time information for students

While it may be relatively easy for parents to monitor at home how much information their children consume from outside sources such as the TV news, Gazitt said monitoring areas such as social media is another story.

She said when news broke of last week’s threats at Juanita High School (JHS) and Redmond High School (RHS), students shared information among themselves through texts and social media apps such as Snapchat. But because the schools and Lake Washington School District did not share information with students, it was hard for people to discern what was fact and fiction and what was happening at which school.

“(Students) were just working themselves up,” Gazitt said.

She said while administrators may not have wanted students to panic, not sharing information had the same result as “kids (were) telling each other” and that information was not always accurate.

Gazitt said there needs to be a way for students to receive real-time information to avoid this — not so much at the elementary level, but definitely at the secondary level as some middle schoolers and most high schoolers will have access to smartphones and other devices.

Back to reality

Once a threat has been investigated and a school cleared, some parents and students may still be anxious about returning to school. Gazitt said the decision to keep a student or students at home is a personal one and should be up to parents.

For some people, going back to school may not be a big deal, but for others, there may be something in their past that might be triggered by the idea of a potential threat, she said.

“There’s no right or wrong answer to it,” Gazitt said.

If a child is anxious, she said parents might want to have them stay home and then have a conversation with the child once they do return to class. Gazitt said parents should make sure their child feels supported. This could mean carpooling with other families in the neighborhood or driving them to school instead of having them take a bus.

Gazitt also noted that there are resources at school such as a counselor, nurse’s office and teachers who students can reach out to if needed.