Explained in a child-friendly way: why is there war?

The older children get, the more aware they become of their environment. If their world previously only consisted of mum, dad, grandparents, day care center & Co., they quickly discover that there is a lot more besides – unfortunately these are not only beautiful things. Whether on television, browsing the Internet, listening to the car radio or through snippets of conversation that they overhear on the bus and train: sooner or later children learn about the conflicts that prevail in this world.

As a parent, how should you deal with conflict issues?

Conflict can be frightening for children. In contrast to us adults, they cannot differentiate to what extent crises and catastrophes directly affect their lives. For them, for example, a war in a distant country is just as “real” a danger as a wild dog on the sidewalk in front of them – the issue of “war” is just much more difficult to grasp.

In order to enlighten your child, we have put together a few general tips that you should take to heart when dealing with this difficult topic:

• Use your child’s language when explaining. Talk to your child at eye level and ask if they use terms as a matter of course. Children often pick up words and use them without knowing the meaning. Therefore, always reassure yourself so that you can be sure that your child has understood your explanations.
• Explain only what your child is asking for. Your head is probably already rattling and you are feverishly thinking about how you can break down religious and cultural differences in a child-friendly way, how you can roll up history to explain military strikes and, and, and – but that’s not necessary at all in this case. Your child now needs clear answers, too much (supposedly arbitrary) information would only confuse your child.
• Don’t play down anything, but give your child a sense of security. This conversation should serve to answer your child’s questions and thus take away their fear of the unknown. Explain to your child that they can always come to you with questions.

Here we have prepared the topic of war for you to explain in a child-friendly way:

what is war

There have been wars in the world for as long as there have been people. Time and time again, people clash because of differences of opinion. When arguments cannot be resolved with words, some will try violence. A dispute turns into a war when countries or groups take up arms and fight each other.

Why is there war?

Basically, wars are waged because governments or those in power in a country believe that they can achieve their goals faster or better this way than with peaceful negotiations and talks.

Sometimes countries or groups want to increase their own power. For example, they fight for a piece of land. Or they fight because they want to be in charge of a certain area. But it also happens that a group wants to defend itself against another group and therefore becomes violent. Sometimes groups also fight against the government of their own country, for example when they feel oppressed and unfairly treated. In this case, the group wants to remove the government from power. In short, as many different reasons for conflict as there are for waging war.

What happens in a war?

During a war, the soldiers of a country or a group fight against each other, but since the fighting usually takes place in populated areas, those who are not involved suffer from the violence. Cities, roads and houses can be destroyed and families separated – in the worst case forever.

To protect the civilian population, as bystanders are called, from the extent of a war, there are the so-called Geneva Conventions . The Geneva Conventions are agreements (a kind of binding promise) by almost 196 countries that have pledged to protect civilians in the event of war. For example, the Geneva Conventions regulate what kind of weapons may be used in war. This is to protect as many people as possible. Unfortunately, not all countries comply with this.

Wars are bad things and have profound consequences for the people, environment, politics and economy of a country. It often takes a long time for a country to recover from the aftermath of war. On the other hand, some people who have lost a lot in war never recover from it.

How does a war end?

In an argument or disagreement, violence is never the answer—fortunately, most belligerents realize that sooner or later. The fighting then stops and the hostile countries or groups get along again. They make peace and promise not to be violent towards each other again.

Although many countries have been at war in the past, that doesn’t mean they have to be divided forever. Germany and France, for example, were long considered enemies. Both countries waged many wars before finally making peace. Today Germany and France work closely together and try to support each other in joint projects.

War is a difficult subject, but it is important that we educate our children when they come to us with concerns and questions. This way we can take away their fears and give them a sense of security.