How do you tell your child about death?

Our society seems to be fascinated by the mystery of death, our morbid curiosity sparks shows like CSI and Bones, we even have a fascination with the undead and zombies. However, even with so much dead around us on the daily basis, dealing with death from a child's perspective can still be excruciatingly difficult.

I remember when I was a child, my grandparent's cats disappeared and went to live in a farm! A Farm! They will get to run around and catch all the mice they want. Then when I got older I found out just what "farm" is a euphemism for, the big sunny farm in the sky. When family members close to me actually died, I was old enough to understand exactly what was happening, so I never really had to be faced with death when I was younger. But why should we sugar coat the idea of death to young children? I don't have children, so I will likely know the answer to this question once I have my own.

I typed in "Children and Death" into google and found a plethora of websites dedicated to giving tips and pointers on how to have that talk with your young one. This is definitely not something that is addressed in schools, and that is probably how it should be, as a child's first encounter with death is likely going to be with something close to them. These sites say to be honest, which is a shift from "the Farm". Use literal and basic terms for really young children, and encourage questions. 

I would think it is across the board in all societies that our knowledge of death comes from our family, as a result of our first hand experiences with death. Despite the fact that our society has such a morbid curiosity and fear of death, families teach their children about death when the time is necessary. I do wonder, however, if the death talk is such a conundrum in other societies or cultures. Especially in some cultures where ancestor worship is crucial to their way of life, and so knowledge of the dead is important from a young age. It is probably as routine as the ABCs. Regardless of whether the reason is because a close relative died, or knowledge of death is important to spiritual practices, teaching children about death is important.