News kids can use?

By Meredith

From time to time, I suffer from this nagging worry about the fact that I let my three kids watch the news with me.

On any given evening while I'm making dinner -- unless of course I'm on some crushing deadline and dinner will be hastily-poured bowls of cereal -- I flip on the local and then the national news in the kitchen, frequently leaving it chattering in the background while we eat.

A former newspaper reporter, I teach journalism to college students, to whom I am constantly stressing the importance of keeping up with current events. I want and need to keep abreast of the news, so not only does the news appear on the TV, but it's in the newspapers that sit on the kitchen counter or on the coffee table in the family room. And now that my twin second-graders can read, they can tell what's going on in the world by scanning the headlines and listening to the TV news anchors.

There are some who think that children should be shielded from the news, that the innocence of youth shouldn't be corrupted by the evils of the world that are beamed into our homes on the newscasts or plastered in full-color photos on the front pages of our newspapers. And, for the record, when TV broadcasts are showing or talking about gruesome or inappropriate subject matter, I turn off the TV (think of the Duke rape case). Likewise, when the front pages of the newspapers run graphic images (think of Saddam Hussein with the rope around his neck before his hanging), I hide those papers from the kids.

But, that being said, I think there's virtue in teaching kids to understand that the world isn't necessarily a rosy place, that sometimes bad things happen and that we should do what we can to help one another and to make the world better. When a news report about the war in Iraq comes on, for example, it prompts a civics discussion at our dinner table while my husband and I explain what's happening. In those moments, I can usually count on my 8-year-old son to be empathic about the plight of soldiers serving overseas and express concern for the families left behind.

When the first woman was sworn in as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and we watched and read about the event together, we found suddenly ourselves in a discussion about women's suffrage, shocking my kids when they learned that women have had the right to vote for less than 100 years.

The lessons learned through being informed about the world, through the understanding that they shouldn't take their blessings for granted, and through figuring out how important it is to participate in our democracy, all, I think, override concerns that may plague me periodically about exposing my children to the news at such a young age ... even though my 5-year-old is fond of saying, "I don't like that Brian Williams."

Meredith O'Brien is a journalist who lives with her family in the Boston area.

Comments

[RobinP]

Sept 11th happened when Lillianna was only 4 years old and for the most part,we tried to keep her in her playroom watching cartoons while Rich and I were glued to the tv. In the end,we explained what happened to her because she saw it anyway and wanted to know about the burning buildings.

Rich and I watch the news every morning and Lillianna rolls her eyes at us but sometimes she watches it and asks questions. Even if it's something bad or scary,we explain it to her. It gives us the opportunity to tell her our opinion on the subject.

We talked about the recent "hoax" in Boston which caused such an uproar. We talked about the little 4 year old who died from the overdose of ADD meds by her parents.

I can't say I know a lot about politics but we do discuss what's happening in the news because I think she needs to know what's going on in this world.

I think you are definitely doing the right thing keeping your kids in the loop about current events. How else will they learn?

[Karen]

I agree. While we don't watch the news (either we're eating or playing), I listen to NPR daily while we're driving around town. My 7-year old son pipes up with some pretty interesting questions. Also, he's always looking at a globe finding the places he heard about in the news. This kid will not be geographically illiterate. :) He takes after his mom. (As a young girl, instead of teen idol posters plastered all over my walls, I had National Geographic maps.)

[maria]

We don't have the tv news on much around the kids - I think a lot of it is too violent and graphic and to be honest, sensationalist - esp if I don't have time to discuss it w/the kids. But, we do have newspapers and magazines and living in Washington, DC and both of us being Feds - we talk a lot about current events. My oldest son (7) esp has strong opinions about the President and the war and has written 3 letters respectfully disagreeing w/the Pres's policy.

What's interesting is - that one of his classmate's families is always surprised at how informed and vocal and opinionated #1 son is. They say they just don't talk politics around their kids - and are always surprised if he's in the car with them about what he can talk about. We live blocks away - but they work in the IT industry - wonder if that's part of it...