NEW ALBANY, Ohio — At the Columbus Jewish Day School in New Albany, dozens of families joined their children at the end of the school day to share a message of love and support.
Love and peace. That was the message shared Friday afternoon with students, their families and their teachers. It's how Jewish communities are grieving together as the war continues to escalate.
“This is very, very, very hard,” said Eran Rosenberg, director of Jewish life and learning at Columbus Jewish Day School.
Rosenberg is from Israel and his family and friends are still there. Right now, he's helping his 5th grade students navigate this difficult time.
“In a way, what brings me hope is what I'm doing here that I'm working here with Jewish children and I bring the message of peace and the connection with Israel,” he said.
Although there was no credible threat Friday, security was increased at Columbus Jewish Day School as well as across the city of Bexley outside schools and synagogues.
Safety is top of mind, and as families head into the weekend another focus will be monitoring kid's exposure on social media.
A letter from Bexley schools and police urges parents to take extra precaution with a warning "there are many gruesome images online, especially on social media."
10TV spoke to William Leever, a psychologist from Nationwide Children's Hospital, for advice.
He said firstly, model responsible social media use for your own kids and show them you're taking a break if you need. Secondly, ages 10 to 14 is the range parents really need to monitor their social media use.
And if your child does see something traumatic or gruesome he said “don't wait. Talk to them about it, kids will be exposed to stuff, unfortunately. So really talk to them about what they're experiencing, take a step back and listen, really listen to what they're saying. Give them some space to talk about their emotions, and then also normalize and validate the fact that this is really hard stuff. "