TRUE CRIMEElizabeth Smart Reveals Her Kids Know About Her Terrifying 2002 Kidnapping
Elizabeth Smart has been candid with her children about being kidnapped when she was young.
After the activist, 36, was taken from her family's Salt Lake City home when she was 14 years old by preacher Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, and kept captive for nine months, Smart revealed her offspring are aware of the traumatic event she experienced.
Elizabeth Smart has been candid with her children about being kidnapped when she was young.
"They could tell you the overarching story," the survivor said in a recent interview about what her kids, Chloe, 9, James, 7, and Olivia, 5, with her husband, Matthew Gilmour, know about her past. "My oldest would be able to tell you the most, and the youngest...she knows. I don't know if she cares. She's still very much the boss of everything."
Smart explained the topic of her kidnapping naturally came up when she would have to discuss safety with her brood. "There would be times they would wander off and then I'd be really upset," she said.
Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home in 2002.
"That's usually when I was like, 'I am the way I am because bad things can happen anywhere. When I was little, I was in bed and something bad happened.' That was the first step, and then just from there they think I'm overreacting," she continued.
People have often questioned the advocate about how her horrific experience has contributed to any anxiety toward caring for her children. "I'm looking for that answer myself. I want to be honest with my kids and I want them to know, this world, not everybody has your best interest at heart. But I don't want them to live in fear," Smart added.
Elizabeth Smart was 14 at the time of her abduction.
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"I've spoken with a lot of parents and [they] always ask me, 'How do I talk to our children?'" Smart said. "Quite frankly, I'm not a parenting expert, I only have the experience of raising my own kids."
Since the horrific event, Smart has used her platform and her story to advocate for other survivors. "The first thing I always want them to know is, 'You're here, you made it. Whatever you did, it doesn't matter,'" she explained.
Elizabeth Smart now has three children of her own.
The blonde beauty emphasized that some victims "never had the chance to do 'the right thing,' or what you think might be the right thing. They did everything 'right' and they're still not here, their lives were ripped away from them. So it doesn't matter —it doesn't matter what you did, [it] doesn't take away from who you are. You are here."
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E! News conducted the interview with Smart.
