We begin with the latest
numbers from the
Middle East. At least 22 Americans are dead.
Dozens are still missing as we entered day five
in the war in Israel. Hamas militants have continued
to fire rockets
at Israel. Part of a 25 mile strip of land
was reduced right
here to rubble. The war which has claimed
some 20,200 lives, at least on both sides
continues to escalate today in an emotional interview. Nbc's Lester Holt spoke with a
relative of two missing
Americans. What do you, what
do you want your, your sister and your niece
to know right now? I want them to know
that we're doing everything in our power to bring them back. We do not forget them. We do everything we can in the States in Israel. We're
very worried
about them. We love you and we want to hug you and
we want you
back home. And you can hear more of that
interview with
Lester who is in Tel Aviv tonight on NBC
nightly news
at 6 30. As the fighting continues
back, home, schools across northeast
Ohio are seeing some disturbing social media posts
related to
the war and have a warning for parents. Matt Rascon has the story. The awful scenes out of Israel
and Gaza have
been playing out for days on air online
and on social media. I think we'd be naive to think
that the young people don't
have exposure
to that. That's the concern that
prompted schools
to send
out a warning to parents about their
children's social
media use. It's a very difficult time
I think to be
a parent or to be a caregiver and these are
very sort of complex issues that they, that they're
being faced with. Carl Brass is with Belfair JCB, a child service agency
with health counselors embedded in our schools
and communities. This week, they sent a message to
schools to
make sure they're aware of graphic and
disturbing images circulating. I would just want to
validate that these are very difficult things to
traverse shaker heights. Schools asked parents to
monitor social
media access. Beachwood schools went
further saying there is no reliable way to
avoid being
exposed to them other than deleting your
child's social media accounts. Mandel Jewish day school told
parents in
an email. These videos reportedly
involve hostages, pleading for their lives as
well as other horrific
displays of cruelty. Solon city schools had a
similar message adding many of our families are experiencing trauma
and fear and students may be struggling with
understanding terrorism and the horror of the situation. I think it's obviously very
concerning for parents in times
of war overseas and really at all times Brass says
parents should keep an open
dialogue with
your kids and know what they're watching
and as best they can to try and have some
impact on what, what they're exposed to. Several schools said their
concern was posts from Hamas specifically violent
disturbing
videos of the 100 to 150 Israelis and
Americans who are being
held hostage. They warned these videos could
cause trauma for
kids. Russ, Matt. What other resources are
out there and available to
parents and their kids? Yeah, Russ. So some districts
offered counselors to
support students. They also appointed parents and
kids to organizations
like common sense media and the National
Association of School
Psychologists. We've included those links on
the story on our website
at wkyc dot com. Ok. Matt Rascon in the newsroom. Thank you.