Kids Watching the News

[OrionGrad]

I'm interested in some of your perspectives on this... At what age did you start being concerned about what your child was seeing on TV news ... And on the other end of the spectrum, how old do you think kids should be before they can watch the news?

Back when DS1 was a baby, I always had the TV news on during the day just as background noise while I was nursing or whatever. But as he got older and more aware I started turning it off more and more whenever "scary" stories were being shown, and now I practically never have it on unless it's something like a special about the Pope. I'm just too worried that he'll see something that scares him and he'll start having nightmares or something.

I don't know when my boys will be old enough to watch the news and actually grasp what's going on without being scared. I remember watching TV news growing up and I don't think my parents thought much about it, but I guess it's a different world now.

What do you think? When are kids mature enough to understand the news without being scared by it?

[scrub-jay]

I can't even watch the news anymore because of the sensationalism infused into every story to evoke an emotional response. And honestly, the overabundance of negative stories makes me feel the world is a horrible place.

[SoonerTexan]

^Yeah that :/

[WolfpackWife]

yep x2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MrsK]

Heck, I'm scared by the news. ISIS gives me nightmares and the rise of anti-semitism and anti-muslim instances around the world keep me up at night.

I listen to NPR in the car while the kids are with me. That's my primary news source. Usually, they have trigger warnings if something is especially graphic so I can change the station. The kids mostly tune it out but every now and then J will ask me about something he's heard on the radio. Since were all in the car together, it's a good opportunity for me to talk about what he's heard, answer questions, reassure him if necessary. The only "news show" we watch with the kids is occasionally watching Sunday Morning.

[rufflesanddots]

+1 to [MENTION=1498]MrsK[/MENTION]. I listen to NPR, and sometimes I even have to take breaks from that. I remember being very affected as a kid by what I saw on the news. Lots of worrying about the Gulf War, kidnappings, drugs, and gangs. If we had cable I'm not sure I'd ever turn the news on. I have no idea what channel would provide coverage that didn't make me feel like I was about to be attacked.

At the synagogue I went to for YK services this year, the rabbi spoke about the idea of "fear" and delineating between actual dangerous situations versus interpreted danger. That's something I've been working on a lot this last year. I'm doing my best not to simply avoid current events all together, but to gauge my limit between being informed and being terrorized by the 24/7 news cycle.

[MrsK]

I'm doing my best not to simply avoid current events all together, but to gauge my limit between being informed and being terrorized by the 24/7 news cycle.

I think this started with 9/11. Before that, only CNN was the 24 hour cycle and they were on repeat. During the 9/11 coverage, people's hunger for news was so endless that CNN pushed everyone else out. The other networks had to get competitive.

[OrionGrad]

I turned on the Today show a couple weeks ago and there was a pretty innocuous story about school bus safety. I looked over at DS1 and his eyes were GLUED to the TV. He doesn't even ride a school bus, but I immediately worried if he'd be scared by what he saw (crash dummies in simulated accidents). I can't predict what's going to be the first thing to give him nightmares, you know.
But at the same time, I want my boys to be informed (within reason) and I don't think it's a good idea to keep them completely sheltered until college.

[spotty_dog]

TV news these days is all about scare-mongering. We don't have any kind of broadcast or cable TV, but when we go to my inlaws' and they have the news on as background noise, we can have reasonable conversations with the kids (6 and 8) about what they've seen, and I don't think it harms them, but 98% of the time we just have to tell them, "They are emphasizing this because it is unusual and upsetting. It's not how the world really is."

We do NPR sometimes, but often those stories are sensationalized or not kid appropriate either. I get the desire to grow informed and engaged citizens, but I honestly care more that my kids know about their immediate community for now. DH shared a cool news story online with them, about a kid in a neighboring town who got a sweet prosthetic arm. I can get behind that.

[Flynn]

I don't watch the news and neither do my kids. Ever. We read about the news. That way you can skim or not and avoid the images they show for a "shock value."

My kids get "Time for kids"....magazines and articles that talk about current events as well

Heck -- the commercials alone are enough to drive me mad.

[Pollyanna]

Eh, we've always had the news on. Have yet to have a child traumatized. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Deebs]

Kids Watching the News

I used to have it on in the morning while we got ready for school so I could hear the weather and catch a story here and there. One morning, the local news broke in with news of a school shooting in a neighboring town where my kids knew DH would be responding with his fire departments. That was the last morning I had the news on with my kids there. I flip it on once they've left for the day and record an interesting story or two for them to watch later, on occasion (like the Pope coverage today).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Sheherezade]

I think this started with 9/11. Before that, only CNN was the 24 hour cycle and they were on repeat. During the 9/11 coverage, people's hunger for news was so endless that CNN pushed everyone else out. The other networks had to get competitive.

It's been going on a lot longer than that. Fox and MSNBC both launched in 1996 to compete with CNN. I remember watching much ofIraq war number one on TV. Freaky.

I mostly listened to radio news when we had kids that shouldn't be listening. With high school kids, it's nice to have the more involved radio reports to discuss. Radio news always seems superior to TV news to me.


Angie

[metroguy]

as a kid, i watch the news all my life.. i don't remember it being that scary.. of course, my parents and maybe me are totally paranoid about stuff..
as for kids - 4/6, no news program. all tv are children's program. and of course my kids are scary of everything--so it's probably a good thing they don't watch the news.