Hide their eyes?

I believe that children should be exposed to more good things happening in the world than bad. They need to to learn to be positive and to know that there is a lot of good in the world and that they can contribute to that. If they are exposed to to much negativity at an early age they will grow up feeling insecure and expecting and looking for the bad. There are times when they should be taught and warned of danger but not exposed to all the ugliness that we hear on the news on a daily basis. Love~n~Happiness!

The keywords here are "age appropriate," I think. It's not good to completely shield a child from the bad things in the world, because the first time they encounter something, it might shatter their world view about hings being all perfect and happy. Letting them know about things that are suitable for whatever age they may be is a good idea, in small doses and in terms they can understand. It's a way to keep them somewhat grounded while still letting them be kids.

I think they should be told and let know that there are bad people out there and never talk to strangers. Thats the hardest part on grand daughter she hasnt met a stranger and if she sees them she says hi and we tell her thats a stranger not to talk to them specially older people she sees walking down the road altho kids can be just as bad. But she has really not got it in here head that if we dont know them they are strangers. WE just moved to a new house and she dont think the neighbors are strangers. We cme home one day she is next door talking to the man there altho we have been told they are gay we dont know them very well and her dad was to be watching her! We got all over him not watching like he should!

I think it is best to let children know in a way that they will be aware of what is going on in the world. There is no need to make them scared. That will all happen way to fast in their lives as it is. There are ways to teach our children how to be aware of things and what to do, without having to scare them. There is so much negativity in the world these days, it is hard for them not to hear or see things. I guess we can try to curb what they hear and see to some extent. It is difficult to know exactly how much we need to let them know. Good luck

If we want to shield and hide thing from them it must come with a good reason for it. Anyway the adult need to guide them through the process so they know clearly what they should do or not an the consequences of it. Kids nowadays they simply can't accept 'no' word without any reason as they always asked proof so we need to prepare some good explanation when it come to teaching process like this. I am happy the way my parents upbringing their children. Even if they hide certain things away from us but we do know that it is to avoid us from doing it.

It all depends on a child's age. I don't think parents should shield their children from every bad thing that happens in the world because if they do then their kids wont be aware of the danger that's out there thus putting them in even more danger. Depending on the child's age you would want to tell them in a way that they would understand but at the same time you wouldn't want to go into too much detail.

I believe more talk about things in the world from the parents can be a good thing, to have all aspects explained, I think children have to be prepared for life and have everything explained to them in a way that will hopefully put them on the right track.

I've never tried to hide my kids from anything negative. It can be a very important tool in teaching them how NOT to be. Also as you said, in order to learn the skills needed to cope in life and against these things, they at least need to know about them.

hi celticeagle I think we should not hide every thing but we might want to temper things according to the children's ages. For one thing take child molesters, sadly a lot of them are family members so I made sure both of my little ones knew that anyone who wanted to touch them where it made them uncomfortable was wrong and they must run from them and tell me or their daddy. My son at three remembered this and when we were shopping in a large JC penny store I lost track of him for five minutes and was petrified. My husband got the clerks to search the store with me while he went outside.sure enough our son was being held by a strange woman. My hubby saw them at once and our son yanked free and ran to his daddy."bad woman tried to make me go away from the store daddy",My husband asked the woman"What the hell were you doing with my son?" she tried to insist she knew he was lost and was taking him to the police station. this did not fly as my husband pointed out she was going the wrong direction for the police station in down town Phoenix.WE also were truthful about various things children should know about eventually as they will be out in the world going to school and all.

You can only hide stuff for so long. Sooner or later the bubble will burst and they will see the world for what it is. Letting them knwo the truth will make them stronger. Example; if they didnt know about child molesters, how will they learn stranger danger?

I do shield my children from some things that are beyond their age and ability to process or understand. Then there are those elements that are so twisted that I try to even shield myself from.In my opinion it is not healthy to expose yourself to some things; they are shocking and disgusting when you first see them but over time that little grain of sand you let into your mind builds up to a black pearl that will normalize things that are not as shocking as that event but before you saw a new level of extreme would have blown you away. Then there is the simple normal parts of life that are negative and id we don't teach them about these as they grow up they are unprepared for them as adults. when money is tight in my home I don't scare my kids with "We are on the edge of losing everything" but I do explain that things are tight and right now is not a good time for us to make frivolous purchases and they see what steps I may take to make our money go further in order to get past the bad spots. This not only allows them to learn that there will always be rough spots in life but that there are ways to handle them and that it does not warrant a total freak out. Every situation and every child adds up to a different answer to this question, but what a great topic.

We need to educate our children and not hide what is happen to this world. What you need is to guide them from such terrible thing...

celticeagle ..The key here in my opinion is 'age appropriate' It is important to allow children to know the world as it is, including good and bad, but these need to be introduced only on a level they can understand.

As everyone feels even i agree that this totally depend s on the age of child and his level of understanding. A child should have knowledge of both good and bad things which happens in life so that he is ready for every thing in life.

I think you need to tell them in an age appropriate way. You might just tell a 5 year old that there are bad people, and not to talk to strangers, and a 14 year old the full details. But I don't think it's a good thing to completely keep it from them.

You can`t keep your childs eyes shut or his ears closed forever.Kids nowadays are very smart and nothing is hidden from them for long.They have many means of knowing several things like the internet,mobile phones,friends ,reading etc.The world,unlike 50 years ago has become very small and due to advanced technology and the digital age kids pick up things very quickly as they have numerous resources.Nowadays parents have to be very careful and keep an eye discreetly on their kids and see what they are upto.One cannot stop kids from seeing the negativities of the world but one can be a guide to them and let thme know what is good and what is bad.Children are very curious and inquisitive at a young age and therefore will not succumb to force.One has to be diplomatic with them and explain everything and make them understand everything.By instilling good moral values in them parents cankeep them away from the negative aspects of life.

i think we should let them know there are bad people in the world and how to aviod such people and that we will protect them as much as possible and they should listen to precautions we give them for survival. cant keep them in a bubble. they need to be aware of certain things.

I have fought with myself over this one for a very long time. I have realized if we hide everything from them and send them to school, it is like cutting them out to the wolves. They will hear and be exposed to things that we would never think of. I know mine were. I think there are things that I have wanted to hide and couldn't and then there are things that I could have hidden and didn't. I wanted to shelter mine so bad that I did I guess to some extent. The thing that I come to learn though was that if they learned it from me...they saw it through my eyes..or at least developed an opinion based on my thoughts versus other children or people who didn't think about things in quite the same manner. I think there are some things better to be open about so that they expect and aren't caught off guard by some of the world's atrocities. Then I guess there are those that I can't bear to share. Take care!

i think whether hiding a child's eyes from the negativity in the world depends on how serious the negativity is. we should expose some light negativity to the child in order to let him know the life road isn't flat to prepare himself for society.we should protect the child from the negativity which is serious .If the child lose hope to society,it will do great harm to him.

My parents never showed me anything negative on purpose, but I grew up and I know how many negative things this world can be anyways. All children will grow one day and if they don't know how bad people can be then they may not make it through life. However, I don't think parents should try to show their children how bad people can be as this might cause the children some problems growing up. Parents should predict if something is particularly too inappropriate for their children to see and act accordingly. In my opinion it is better to wait for your child to come to see those things on their own, from school or wherever, and when they ask you about it then you should explain it to them in an appropriate way.