Talking to Children About the Marathon Tragedy

1) Newsbit of the Day: 

For parents seeking guidance on how to address the Boston Marathon tragedy with their own children, if it comes up, Boston Children's Hospital offers these steps to follow.

Here are several of the tips:

• Tell your children what happened–it’s important that they hear it from you. Do it in a broad-strokes way (“There were explosions at the marathon and some people were hurt”)
• Answer their questions simply and honestly (again, in a broad-strokes way–details aren’t necessary)
• Limit their exposure to media. It’s hard not to end up glued to the television, especially as events are unfolding, but it may be very upsetting to children. Use your laptop or smart phone instead.
• Make sure they know that events like these are very rare. It’s usually very safe to be in public places.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also has a 24-hour hotline dedicated to providing disaster crisis counseling at 1-800-985-5990 or by texting "TalkWithUs" to 66746. The hotline is open to U.S. residents who are experiencing psychological distress as a result of a natural or man-made disasters, incidents of mass violence or any other disasters.

SAMHSA also has tips for students, schools, adults, families, responders and health professionals in dealing with tragedies.

2) Town and School Watch: 

Curbside trash and recycling will be delayed by one day throughout the week (Monday's pick-up, April 15, will be on Tuesday, etc.).

3) Swampscott Sports: 

The Swampscott High baseball team won their first game of the season against Winthrop on Monday. The score was 10-3

Pitcher Al Wallach threw all 7 innings giving up no earned runs and throwing lots of strikes, said coach Jason Calichman.

At bat, Ryan January went 3-3 with a walk, and Brendan McDonald went 4-4 with a homer

It was a great game all the way around, the coach said. Congratulations to the players and coaches — the first win for new coach Jason Calichman.

4) Weather Watch: 

Mostly sunny, with a high near 60. Breezy, with a south wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

5) School Watch: 

Here are items listed on the School District calendar:

• SPAIN TRIP

• NO SCHOOL - PATRIOTS' DAY AND APRIL VACATION