What will we tell the children?
If you're a parent, perhaps you have worried about how to broach the subject of the War on Terror to your children.
If so, fear not: FEMA has provided a helpful children's tutorial on National Security Emergencies.
I highly recommend the children's story "A Special Day," in which Julia and Robbie go to school for a special Homeland Security day.
Among other things, it teaches the virtues of sheltering-in-place:
Mrs. Fletcher took a deep breath. Then she wrote three words on the board: chemical, biological and radiological. She looked at them for a minute before she turned back to the students.
"This isn't easy to talk about," she said.
Then their teacher began. Chemical weapons were poisons that could be put in the air or the water or on surfaces. Many chemical weapons did not have a smell or a taste. Biological weapons, she went on, were organisms or toxins that kill or injure people, animals or crops. They can be bacteria, viruses or toxins. Radiological or nuclear weapons used radioactive material to harm people.
"Anthrax is a biological weapon you might have heard about," Mrs. Fletcher said.
Julia and Robbie nodded. They had heard of anthrax.
[snip]
The teacher nodded. "Or we may be told to 'shelter in place'."
"What does that mean?" Robbie interrupted again.
"Let me show you!" Mrs. Fletcher said. She pulled out shiny, gray duct tape, clear plastic sheeting and scissors.
"Let's shelter in place!" she said. "Come help me!"
The students crowded around their teacher. They used the tape and the plastic to seal up the doors and windows.
"Julia, turn off the fan," Mrs. Fletcher instructed.
Soon the room was completely sealed off.
Mrs. Fletcher turned on her battery-powered radio.
"Now we wait for the all clear," she said.
The students went back to their desks to wait.
It also teaches children the value of the Homeland Security Advisory System:
"We've learned a lot today. Now we have one more thing to talk about," Mrs. Fletcher said.
She pulled a poster from underneath her desk. It had five colors on it.
"This is the Homeland Security Advisory System," she said. "It shows the threat level, which is determined by the government."
The poster showed green for low condition, blue for guarded condition, yellow for elevated condition, orange for high condition and red for severe condition.
"Each of these colors is important to our police and fire departments and governments across the country," she said. "Do you know what color we are on now?"
No one knew.
"We are at yellow," Mrs. Fletcher said. "So the public has to be alert for suspicious activity."
The students nodded. Now they knew.
Share the site with your child today. Not to teach your children how to shelter-in-place and report suspicious activity is to abandon your duties as a parent.
12:33:39 AM 
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