December 17, 2012

Dear Families,

The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday have stunned and
saddened us all. This weekend, we mourned the loss of 26 innocent lives, heartbroken for those
families, we all held our own families a little closer as we learned more about what happened.

We understand it is an especially challenging time for parents of young children. First, let us assure you
that as guardians of your children, there is nothing more important to us than protecting them in our
care. We can reassure you that every Bright Horizons center has a series of security systems and
protocols to help guard against any threat to the safety of children and staff, and we perform safety
drills on a regular basis. Like all educators, we will of course review all these measures in the wake of the
events at Sandy Hook Elementary, but we are confident that our centers are safe and secure and that
our staff are well trained to protect children in the case of emergency.

Equally challenging to providing an environment that is physically safe for our children is our job as
parents and educators to keep our children emotionally safe and to raise them to become enlightened
and empathetic adults. Children learn from what we say and dont say about the world and their place in
it, and they also learn from our actions. For very young children, the most important things we may be
able to do is protect them from news and conversation about tragic events and to protect them from
any stress or anxiety it is causing us. For children who are aware of the tragedy, we need to be there to
respond to their emotional and educational needs, to listen, and to be our most thoughtful selves. The
family can be a safe haven where children express their ideas and fears and be assured that parents will
do their best to protect them. It can be a place to teach them about the world that they will inherit.

Bright Horizons Vice President of Education and Development Linda Whitehead has developed guidance
for helping children cope through this time, and we have attached that here for you. This guidance is
also available in a special issue of our electronic newsletter e-family news that will be issued on Monday.
We also have resources online that were developed by the late Jim Greenman, a leading early educator
and author of What Happened to The World. You can access that material at
http://www.brighthorizons.com/TalktoChildren/. Your childrens teachers, staff and center leadership
team at Bright Horizons are also able to help support you and your children during this time.

Our hearts, our thoughts and our deepest sympathies are with the families of the victims at Sandy Hook
Elementary School and the entire community of Newtown, Connecticut.

Sincerely,

David Lissy Mary Ann Tocio

CEO President and COO
 How to Help Children Cope in Difficult Times
By Linda Whitehead
Bright Horizons Vice President of Education and Development

As children grow older and their understanding of the world outside their home
grows, they not only need us to be calm and reassuring, they need our
knowledge and ideas about the larger issues. Life is unpredictable -- natural and
manmade disasters regularly create catastrophe and tragedy. Why? Innocent
people die, and some people are more vulnerable than others. Why? How can I
help the people who are hurting?

Children close to a catastrophe will have the following questions:

Will I be OK?
Will you be OK?
Will everyone I love be OK?

Many children, especially school-age children, may be thinking, That could have been
me, or my friend, or my relatives, or someone I love. That could be me or someone I
love next time. But its not just about trauma. It is important to remember that for
older children, the impact may be less emotional and traumatic, and more intellectual.
Why did this happen? How did this happen? What do we do now? To them it might be
important, or just interesting, and they want to know more.

Adults largely set the emotional landscape for children. Children depend on us to
be strong and solid, to know what is happening and to guide them through the
shoals of troubled waters. Their sense of safety stems from us: the big, strong
adults who protect them from misfortunes that they never imagined.

Responding to Disaster
Some preschool and school-age children will react to catastrophe with anxiety and
questions, others with little anxiety, but lots of interest. Other children will experience
little anxiety and little interest.

Our responsibility as parents and teachers is to:

Recognize that every child is an individual.

Reassure children of their own safety and security.
Help children play and talk through their feelings and understandings.
Limit their exposure to horrific images by reducing exposure to the media.
Help children participate in global events in ways that are meaningful to them.
Disaster and Childrens Play
It is natural for children to reflect events around them. If disasters are dominating the
talk of adults and the news, you may find young children expressing their concern or
interest in their questions, play, or art.

Answering Childrens Questions about the Shooting

What we discuss with children may depend on our religious and political views. If your
children are interested in discussing the shooting, be prepared with the facts of the
situation and the appropriate language. The key points for talking to any child are to:
Tailor your response to the individual child - keep in mind your child's age,
personality, and level of interest.

Ask what the child knows and is thinking about; answer his/her questions without
over-explaining and providing more details than necessary.

Parents may use childrens questions and statements as teachable moments to

impart your political and religious thinking and values about basic issues.

In response to the question of Could it happen to me? younger children can be

reassured simply that we dont think that anything like what they may have seen
will happen and we will keep them safe. Older children may want to know a little
more about how their situation is different from the conditions they are seeing in
the media.

More information about supporting children is available from your center director
or on our web site at http://www.brighthorizons.com/TalktoChildren/.

Final Words
There is no magic formula or right way to respond to a child struggling with catastrophe.
It is important to know and respect the childs way of being and coping, even when it is
different from our own.

Note: Much of this guidance comes from the work of the late Jim Greenman, former Senior President for
Education and Program Development for Bright Horizons through 2009.