How Much Can We - or Should We - Shield Our Kids From the News?
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
December 27, 2007 3:17pm CST
This discussion was inspired by my friend Mooch who mentioned in a post about preventing her kids from "spazzing out" over what's shown on the news. I posted that my daughter also has to be very cautious about what her kids, who will soon turn 11 and 13, see on TV because they're very perceptive and intelligent and get quite frightened over much of what is reported 24/7 these days. It got me to wondering how the rest of you here on myLot deal with the things your children or grandchildren see on the news.
When I was growing up, in the 50's and 60's, we were at the height of the Cold War; I was about 11 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and while I knew there was something amiss I had no clue we were in as much danger as we actually were until many years later. Somehow my parents managed to keep me from seeing too much of that which would have scared me to death. But that was before the 24/7 cable news networks, before "breaking news" interrupted regular programming for anything and everything, usually some sort of disaster or tragedy. So, how do you deal with all the bad news in the world today? Do you attempt to shield your kids from it as much as possible or do you prefer to teach them to deal with it?
Annie
3 people like this
11 responses
@34momma (13882)
• United States
27 Dec 07
i don't allow my children to watch the news either. I think that there is enough going on in their minds that they don't need to watch even more of the drama on the nightly news. i do like to keep them informed about what goes on in the world and in our local area, but i inform them my way, not with all the drama of the news
1 person likes this
@medooley (1873)
• United States
27 Dec 07
Well my kids are 5 and 3, so right now I certainly do shield them from the news, because there is no reason to me why they need to be seeing the bad things that are always reported in the news these days.
Now, when they get older I will let them see the news and I will try to use it as a learning experience for them. I will watch the news with them and ask them their thoughts on it, and attempt to explain to them anything that they may have questions on.
As anyone with kids know, there is no way you can shield your kids from all the bad things in the world, but I am attempting to keep as much of it from them as I can while they are still young, and really can not grasp much of what is going on in the world. There is no reason why my 3 and 5 year old need to be worrying about the war in Iraq, murders in other states, or even tiger attacks over 2000 miles away. They are kids, they don't need to be working about that stuff.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
28 Dec 07
That's so true, they don't need to be worrying about things like that; at 3 and 5 they shouldn't be worried about anything, there will be more than enough time for that soon enough! I think your kids are very lucky for you to plan on watching the news with them when they get older. Unfortunately, too many parents these days either don't have the time or simply don't TAKE the time to do that with their kids so they're left to draw their own conclusions and sometimes end up troubled and confused as a result.
Annie
@chari_dc (492)
• Philippines
28 Dec 07
i have a 5-yr old son and 1 yr old daughter. i don't really consciously shield them from the news. i guess they're too young to care what they see on tv. but sometimes, when i find my son paying attention to some bad news on tv, i talk about it with him. i try to explain to him about that particular news, why that happened or why people do those things. i tell him this is what's happening to other people and that he should pray to god for these people, whether they're good or bad. oftentimes, i think he somehow understands in his child-like understanding.
1 person likes this
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
28 Dec 07
Hi annie, I no longer have kids at home, so it isn't something that I have to deal with right now. I don't think I ever tried to shield my children from these things, but we should do what we feel is best. Parents know their own children, and should make such decisions. I don't think there is one right answer for everyone. As for the news today, I don't watch it at night myself, I prefer the early evening news so I have time to digest it. Blessings.
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@aidenofthetower (1814)
• United States
28 Dec 07
I haven't had to deal with this since my son is still so young. Additionally we don't have regular TV programming. I am not sure that keeping things from kids is the answer. After all, some parents don't care and their kids may blow things out of proportion and what they hear on the playground may be more then something really is. I think it is all about sitting your kids down and telling them the truth. Making it known, will make it harder for someone to scare them with information on the playground. Of course it is easy for me to say all of this since my son is still too little for this to actually come up.
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@skinnychick (6905)
• United States
28 Dec 07
I try but I watch it and my daughter usually asks why people do what they do. She is trying to wrap her 6 year old little mind around it but sometimes it's hard for her to do as it should be. I just try to answer as honestly and objectively as I can. I don't really feel that they should be shielded from news in general, the news can be a good thing too- maybe they can learn something from the world or learn what not to do.
She came into this world on 9-16-2001 (she was due on Sept.11th) when America was under attack and so fragile. In the hospital they gave us a newspaper for her birth day and there were the twin towers on the front on fire. She has since seen this paper and that kind of started her in on world events and the why questions.
I think they can learn a lot and we have to deal with the fear that they might have but that really isn't so bad either- I want her to be afraid of some things especially when she gets older, she may think twice about her actions. :)
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@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
28 Dec 07
There's nothing on the news that they won't see in any movie, anyway. At least the news is balanced, accept for Fox!
@red158 (333)
• Canada
28 Dec 07
It's a little bit of both I believe. My children were quite young during 9/11 and I didn't realize how much they were affected until about a week later after my husband and I had devoured all CNN had to offer, when a plane flew over head and my children freaked out.
Children need to know about the dangers of the world. but they also need to know how to live their lives without constant fear.
The same goes for people that prey on young children, it's hard to find the balance between terrifying a child to go 2 feet from their parent to teaching them that evil does exist and you have to be on your guard.
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@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
28 Dec 07
Well I do not have children yet, but I do not plan to let the television raise my children. What I mean is that, watching t.v. in my house will be a family thing. I want to be there to monitor and explain what they are seeing.
I will let them watch videos that I have pre-screened myself. I do this with my nieces and nephews now. I will buy a kids movie and watch it through at least once and then give it to them. These days, everything that is said to be for kids is not neccessarily age appropriate for them.
My mom had major depression and she would watch the news all the time. I don't remember much of it, but I am sure all of that tragic stuff had an inpact on me some how and I just don't want that for my kids.
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@pismeof (855)
• United States
28 Dec 07
I have a twelve year old boy..He is a very perceptive young man so, When we see something on the news that is less than pleasant or contraversial I will do my best to explain the given situation to him and then procide to ask if he understands or has an opinion on the subject.
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
28 Dec 07
My parents taught me about the news and didn't shield or censor when it came up. The only thing I remember from years back was a reference to another world war, my parents did tell me the truth but also assured me of how far off the claim was. As for me, I do not know how the news will be (remember I know how poor TV news is too) and more importantly I do not know what shape the world will be in. I may or may not try to shield my children from the news. Of course, if it was something grossly obvious (World War III, biohazard situation, or other grandiose event) it would be impossible to hide and even worse, very difficult to deal with. Even the "breaking news" of some clown deciding to be at his worse and inflict that on the public...that too would be hard to deal with. Honestly, I have no real answers here due to my situation. Only things I think, and anticipation of what could happen.
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