Fallout: From a Child's Perspective

“I can’t sleep, Mommy,” said seven-year old Nancy. “I am worried about fallout. Is it going to hurt us?”   

“What did you hear about fallout?” asked her mother, concerned because her daughter had not been sleeping well after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan. She did not want to play outside and was refusing to eat or drink almost everything. “Where did you hear about it?”

“Children shouldn't have to worry about fallout, from a nuclear accident in Japan,” she thought to herself.       

“My teacher told us about it. We are all scared because of fallout.”

“Did she tell you that nuclear reactors do not explode like bombs?” her mother asked, gently. She vaguely recalled the building of fallout shelters in the 1950’s and 1960’s. 

“On the news, they said that there is radiation in the food and water. That is bad for us and could make us sick, right?”

“That’s in Japan, honey, not here,” replied her mother. “Did you see how they dropped water on the nuclear reactors to control how much radiation is released from them?”

“Yes, but it did not work.”

“Nancy, in Japan, there are moms and dads with children, who they love dearly. They are doing everything they can to protect them. They check the radiation levels of the food and water, so that their children are safe.”

“We do that here too? Can I eat and drink whatever I want?”

“That's right, dear,” replied her mother, who was relieved to have found the source of her daughter’s anxiety. “Now, off to sleep you go!”

“We don’t have to build a fallout shelter here?”

“No dear.”

“I am so glad. The only thing I have to worry about is that I don’t fall out of bed.”

“Moms and dads look after that too.”