--- title: Scary things in the world: news, strangers, war and what-ifs — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Scary things in the world: news, strangers, war and what-ifs», a lesson of the reflection course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Some fears come from things that happened to us, and some from things we hear about: a drill, a news repor --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/) / Scary things in the world: news, stran… # Scary things in the world: news, strangers, war and what-ifs Lesson 8 of the reflection course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/0/) — Some fears come from things that happened to us, and some from things we hear about: a drill, a news report, a video, half a sentence from grown-ups in the kitchen; the mind fills the gaps with the worst version. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/1/) — Max heard his parents talking about money and "losing the house", and for two weeks he had tummy aches and couldn't concentrate, lying awake thinking, "Where will we live? - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/2/) — Will we be homeless?" - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/3/) — When he finally told Mum what he'd heard, she explained they had a plan and he would be safe, and the tummy aches stopped; children often hear a bit of a grown-up worry and imagine the whole disaster. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/4/) — The useful habit is to ask "Is this real, how likely is it, and what would I do?": a drill is practice, a scary YouTube "end of the world" is clickbait, but a man in a car offering a lift is a real danger, and running home and telling was exactly right. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/5/) — Some children carry very heavy memories, like war, for a long time; that is not weakness, and special help, such as a counsellor and a kind classmate, can make it lighter. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/6/) — Lockdown drills and fire drills are practice so everyone knows what to do; schools practise because it is sensible, not because something bad is coming, and real emergencies are very rare. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/7/) — Never get into a car with a stranger; running away and telling a grown-up straight away is right, and "trust your gut" means trust the feeling that something is wrong. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/8/) — A refugee is someone who had to leave their country to be safe, for example because of war. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/9/) — Trauma is a very deep hurt from something terrifying; it can last a long time, it is not weakness, and help from a counsellor can make it lighter. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/10/) — Ice on ponds can look strong but break; never walk on frozen ponds or lakes. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/11/) — Children often hear bits of grown-up worries and imagine the worst; asking a parent usually helps, and money problems are a grown-up job to sort out. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/12/) — Big waves are scary, but boats are built to handle rough ("choppy") water; seasickness makes fear feel worse. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/13/) — Seeing violence is upsetting even if you were not involved; the brain replays it to try to understand, and talking about it helps it fade. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/14/) — Many online videos say scary things that are not true to get views; clickbait is a scary or exciting title made to get clicks, and a conspiracy theory is a false story about a secret plan. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/15/) — Videos have claimed "the world will end" many times for years, and it has not happened; checking facts with a trusted adult helps. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/16/) — Dentists sometimes cause a little pain to stop much worse pain later; telling the dentist you're scared, and agreeing a stop signal, helps. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/8-scary-things-in-the-world-news-strangers-war-and-what-ifs/17/) — In a scary emergency many people freeze for a moment; shouting for a grown-up and learning basic first aid help children feel ready. - ← previous: [Chased, trapped, frightened: scary moments that come back at night](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/7-chased-trapped-frightened-scary-moments-that-come-back-at-night/) - next →: [Humiliated in front of everyone: the moment that won't go away](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/9-humiliated-in-front-of-everyone-the-moment-that-won-t-go-away/) - ↑ back to [Reflection](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/)