Laura Bush urges parents to reassure children
( 2001-09-19 16:13 ) (7 )

First lady Laura Bush, in an appearance on Tuesday on Oprah Winfrey's national television show, urged parents to hug their children and communicate with them in the wake of the deadly attacks on landmark buildings in New York and Washington.

"I feel like everyone does -- sadness, anxiety -- but I know that everything is being done to make sure that America is safe," Bush said from Winfrey's studios in Chicago, where the show was broadcast live on ABC-TV.

Since last Tuesday's hijacked plane attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon near Washington, the first lady has assumed a more public role and appeared on Monday at a memorial service for the family and friends of those lost in the crash of a fourth hijacked plane in rural Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.

Almost 6,000 people are reported dead or missing in the attacks.

Bush suggested during her interview with Winfrey that parents "put their arms around children and reassure them," and offer patience and a calm atmosphere so that children can talk freely about their feelings about the attacks.

"It might become a little irritating, but try to realize that they are trying to cope with the same feelings as adults," she said.

"All the feelings we have are natural," Bush said. "The feelings of sadness, or the feelings of anger, or the feelings of anxiety, or uncertainty or confusion."