A psychiatrist on Public Radio said that parents should shut off the images and play a tape or play with their children. He went on to say that seeing the images over and over are hard enough for adults but can traumatize children.
Having been through something similar, I must disagree with that authority.
One morning thirteen years ago, when my older kids were in 4th and 1st grades, a madwoman entered their school, loaded her guns in the bathroom (and shot a boy there), and then entered a classroom and began firing. 6 kids were hit, one fatally.
In the aftermath the school, on the recommendation of psychiatrists, held special sessions for the kids to talk it out, individually, in groups, and in groups with their parents. That talking was, all agreed later, absolutely critical for all of us. To this day I vividly remember the shy little who broke the ice, and was the first to speak up, hesitatingly, in my daughter's fourth-grade class.
In general the older kids (3rd grade and up) managed to resolve their feelings once they talked it out. The younger kids had varying reactions. Some worked their way through it quickly, indeed seemed little affected. But those most affected at first were too young to have the verbal skills to talk it out, and had a good deal of trouble over the next few years.
