What are your views on children watching the news?

[yvr girl]

I saw a child psychologist on one of the morning programs telling parents to not let their children watch footage from the London attack. I remember the same type of think after 9-11. She said children shouldn't be in the room when the news was on.

I remember watching the news when I was as young as four - Vietnam. I remember Watergate. Did I understand everything? Certainly not. Nor do I feel I was scarred from the experience.

I grew up in a family that watched the news, and discussed current events.

I'm not a parent. I do understand the desire to protect children, but knowledge is power.

What do you think?

[redqueen]

1. I don't let my young children watch.

Once they're older, then I will. Right now, I tell them about the news.

[yvr girl]

4. How old are they?

[redqueen]

8. 7 and 5

I think once they're 12 or so I would think it's acceptable to risk them seeing the gore and violence news shows revel in.

[jayfish]

27. Yes, But Do You Let Them Watch Cheese? -NT-

Jay

[Jara sang]

2. I remember the Jonestown massacre

I was around seven years old. The image of dead bodies strewn about a South American rainforest is burned into my memory. I really did not understand what was going on at all. All I knew was that a bad man had done a horrible thing.

[GeekMonkey]

3. we let them watch other fiction, so why not?

[GOPisEvil]

5. I always remember being made to watch the news and read the papers.

I was watching the Democratic National Convention at age 4. I think it made me an engaged, thinking adult.

[redqueen]

14. Oh yes...

I let them watch that.

Just not evening news...

[GOPisEvil]

15. My mom made me watch the evening news when I was older.

But I was always a news junkie because my parents are.

[Lars39]

6. The news was presented differently then, not as sensationalized,

and more unbiased.

[Fleshdancer]

7. As a parent, I believe the same thing as you do

My daughter is 5 and most of the time she won't notice what's on television unless it's a cartoon. However, she did take notice of the Tsunami disaster last winter and as we all know, the images were heart wrenching.

I didn't turn the tv off, I just talked to her about it. She had so many wonderful questions and we discussed all issues related...from death to plate tectonics to why it's extremely important to give to charity and to donate blood when you're old enough to do so. This wasn't just one discussion, our talks on the subject spanned over many days.

Her first day back at pre-school after the winter break, she impressed her teacher when she drew a picture of a big scribble down the middle of the paper (the earthquake), big round swirls on the sides (the waves) and bordered it with sad faces (the people who were hurt). She loves art and she draws everyday but that picture is still my favorite.

[mr blur]

9. Our three have always watched the news,

it's their world, so why shouldn't they know about it?

Mind you, that's the BBC News - from what you all say about the News in the US, I feel we'd have had to sit with them and translate it into real life.

[in_cog_ni_to]

10. My son is 12, he watches the news.

When he's home, that is. ;) He's always been allowed to watch the news and I want him to understand current events, which he does. Sheltering children from the real world does no good. They need to know what's going on here and in the world around them. I also thinks it helps them to develope empathy for others when they see not everyone has a wonderful, safe, hunger-free life. JMCPO

When my son was 18 months old and could barely talk, I was getting ready to watch Nightline which comes on at 10:30 P.M. here. I went into the bedroom, turned on the TV and in comes my "night owl" baby....."Mommy, I watch Dumbo?" "No, sweatheart, it's bedtime for you and mommy's gonna watch Nightline." My son says, "Mommy, I watch Ted Koppel too?" LOL! He knew who Ted Koppel was when he was only 18 months old. :) I'm sure he didn't understand a damn thing from the show, but knew who he was. To this day, he likes Nightline!

[johnnie]

11. I say hide them from reality until they are 16

Then throw them out into the world and let them find out what life is really about. :sarcasm:

I am only 40, but I remember a lot of TV. I remember body counts at dinner time, the race riots in downtown Cleveland, Wallace getting shot, and many other not so pretty pictures. War, riots, inflation and corruption were what I remember from the late 60s and early to mid 70s. In my opinion I don't think I would have turned out to be a liberal if my parents hid me from what the real world could be like. I wouldn't have the compassion for human life if I didn't see what war was doing to people back then.
I have talked to many conservatives and they seem to be the ones that grew up sheltered. I could be wrong, but that has been my observation. I'm glad my parents didn't try to hide the world from me.

[Carni]

13. Amen!

I can remember watching Detroit burn in 68 (I think it was 68) from a look out point, parked in my father's station wagon.

I was four and it scared the hell out of me.

Today I work in an area where the worst of those riots took
place and am absolutely thrilled to play even a very small part in the revitilization efforts in that area.

I am like your age and grew up watching the same things you have mentioned. I think it made me a better person to be aware of my world as a kid.

[johnnie]

19. That same year (68) when I was 4

I remember the Glenville riots here in Cleveland. I remember them because my father was in the Marine Corps and I remember talking to him about the chance of him being called in. His company never did get called in, but it was something I remember.
I know they say kids today see a lot of things in their young lives, but I think it is no worse than many of our past generations. Imagine being a teenager in the 1860s. Not only was your country at war, but there was a chance that you would be fighting any day.

[Carni]

26. I totally agree with you

And I really believe the youth needs to know what they are up against.

These clowns we have now that worship bush, are a bunch of fearful gutless buffoons IMO

The right wingers talk about a "nanny state" ad nauseum when THEY IMO are the ones that are always whining about how everything should be done FOR them. (AARRRGGGHHH!)

[Carni]

12. I have ALWAYS let my child watch the news

In fact I have encouraged it.

[Dulcinea]

21. Same here.

The 6:00 news was a big part of my childhood. I'm 39, & remember seeing footage from Vietnam, the moon landing, Watergate, & a host of other things. I'm a news junkie to this day.

My girls are little (3 1/2 & 20 months), but I don't try to hide world events from them. I watch BBC America on our dish, CNN, the networks, & the Daily Show, & my older one loves Jon Stewart!

[RevolutionStartsNow]

16. Mixed feelings...

I don't want to hide my children from reality...(They are 13 and 9, though I'm mostly talking about the 9 year old here, as the 13 year old has seen it all!)

But the "news", meaning cable news, network news, is so sensationalized and often just so WRONG that I don't want their impressionable young minds to be subject to so much BS. Listening to kids talking in carpools, at school, etc., I hear them repeating the same line of BS that the news feeds most of America, especially that Iraq attacked us on 9/11, and that's why we are there. No doubt much of this comes from their parents, but I suspect some of them pick this up from the TV too.


Last night my husband was flipping channels and my son was in the room, and when my husband paused for a moment on a report about the London bombing, it caught my son's attention and he turned around and said "Wow, that's terrible." or something like that. Then went back to whatever he was doing.

I guess I want him to know what's going on in the world, but the "news" won't necessarily give him that. If he's curious, I talk to him about it, but I don't bring it up out of the blue.

[Goldmund]

17. Remember "The Day After"?

It's a very scary movie in which a nuclear war between the US and Soviet Union happens. It came out sometime in the early 80s. I think I wasn't even 10.

There were all sorts of warnings against children seeing it. I grew up in Europe, and there was no rating system per se, but there was a general consensus that children should not watch it. My father -- a physicist, by the way -- insisted on taking me to see the movie, and practically snuck me into the theater.

I had nightmares for months, and to this day just hearing the words "nuclear war" sends Pavlovian chills down my spine.

AS IT SHOULD. And I could not be more glad I got to see that movie when I did.

[SmokingJacket]

18. My kids don't watch any TV, and I turn off the radio when things

get sketchy: stories about death and child molestation. But they're young, 5 & 8, and hear and question *everything.*

Knowledge is good. We read the paper together, talk about current events incessantly. But I still try to protect them from the very worst of our world. Little by little, I'll withdraw that protection.

[Mandate My Ass]

20. I always watched the news as a kid

and sometimes I saw disturbing images, Vietnam footage, race riots, dead bodies, bombings, you name it. My parents were always there though and we discussed things. I can't watch the "news" anymore because it's not news. What I saw was graphic, but it was not spun to inspire fear or score political points.

The child psychologist sounds like a plant to me. The only reason I would stop a kid from watching is because the RW brainwashing might actually start working.

My son is an adult now but I encouraged him to watch the news.

[davsand]

22. Yes AND no.

We talk about the news, we are always discussing current events, but I do not feel it needful for my 8 year old to see the photos of abducted murdered kids, nor do I find it needful for her to see footage of people jumping out of burning buildings.

I do switch channels if it is something terrible and awful, and I tell her I think it is just too awful for her to see right now. I have explained to her that sometimes bad people do bad things in this world and it hurts others. None of us *need* to see it, really, except maybe to make sure we understand just how severe it is...

I also grew up with the Viet Nam War on my TV screen, and I grew up eating dinner while they showed KIA reports. While I don't think I was exactly terrorized or traumatized by this, I do think I'd like my kid to not have that kind of memories about her childhood. I think it is enough that she goes to anti-war protests with her father and me.

Just my two cents.



Laura

[redqueen]

23. That's exactly what I mean...

They show bodies under sheets for goodness' sake... there's no value in my kids seeing that kind of thing.

[cynatnite]

24. My kids watch the news

All three always have. I want them to keep up with what's going on in the world and there's usually a short discussion over whatever any of us find interesting or compelling. When they were younger such as our six year old son now, we made sure they were aware of what is real and what isn't. With what's currently on TV and the movies it takes some effort to get them to understand.

I do remember some years ago when a ruckus was made about violence in the news. It got to the point where some networks were showing two versions. One age appropriate for children and the other later at night for adults. It was odd, I thought.

I consider the news too sanitized and too controlled to the point of harmful.

[MrsMatt]

25. Every child is different

You have to know what your child can handle. Some children can deal with the images, others cannot.

My daughter is eight years old and a chronic worrier - I don't feel that I can allow her watch the news because I fear the images will give her nightmares (she is very visual). We discuss current events in such a way as to not overly frighten her. We feel we have to protect her for a little while longer, because she's extremely sensitive.

[MissB]

28. I don't let them watch the news

but I let them read it in the newspaper. My seven year old is the only one interested in reading the news at this point, and he doesn't do it everyday.

My youngest (6) prefers to watch the weather channel over cartoons and doesn't really want to know about current events from his brother or from us.