How to explain terrorism to a 12-year-old

Because liberal educators will do it if you don't.

How to explain terrorism to a 12-year-old


While I was taking a few days off from my radio show earlier this week, a friend shared with me that his 12-year-old had been asked by one of his teachers to write a paper on ISIS. He wanted to know what I thought about that assignment.

I was shocked and said a 12-year-old should not be doing research on ISIS! How about a paper on the pope, or the attack on Christianity in America?

I then suggested that he needs to have a talk with the teacher and the principal. Contrary to what some liberals believe, parents do have a say-so in what their children are taught.

If young people are going to hear about the nature of terrorists, they should hear about it from their parents. But how should parents approach the subject? To paraphrase Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Terrorists are bad people and they want to kill all of us!”

That’s how you start the conversation with kids.

Why, the 12-year-old would ask. It is because they are jealous of how we live in this country and the freedoms we enjoy.

Where do they come from? They come mostly from other countries, but there are some lurking and planning to hurt some of us here in the USA.

So what can we do to keep them from killing us? First, we must trust our law enforcement officials and intelligence agencies to do their jobs, and they are, and remember the things you have learned about how to be safe growing up:

  Don’t talk to or accept rides from strangers.
  Don’t go to places alone. Always ask your parents.
  Don’t correspond with strangers on the Internet.

This is common sense, but media hype and the administration’s attempt to make a distinction where there is no difference is causing some people to feel unsafe and confused.

Unlike the answer to Hillary Clinton’s famous question about Benghazi, it does not make a difference when we are talking about terrorists and terrorism. There is no difference in the threat to our way of life by jihadists, radical Islamists, Al Qaeda operatives, descendants of Osama bin Laden, lone wolf terrorists, Khorasan, or mishun-shoeshun! It doesn’t make a difference!

The administration is trying to protect a statement made by President Obama that “Al Qaeda has been decimated and on the run” with all of the distinctions without a difference. The administration is also in denial that the rise of these terrorist incidents and threats are the result of pulling out of Iraq too quickly and telling the enemy when we would stop fighting. They refuse to recognize that they empower terrorists by refusing to leave a sufficient fighting force behind to assist with security and stabilization of the country.

Kids are not stupid. Tell them the truth in a way that will not confuse them, as so many adults are confused and feeling unsafe. Maybe the teacher should start by helping students understand the major religions of the world and how one radical sect of Islam wants to kill us. Or teach them that some people claim that Islam is a peaceful religion, but that we don’t see much of that in the news.

A paper on ISIS out of context might scare kids even more than they need to be at 12 years old. Let them have sweet dreams like most of us did.

I don’t necessarily remember all my childhood dreams, but I do know that my dreams were not about the most evil people on the planet. If they were, I’d still be having nightmares.

By Herman Cain