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What do you guys think about having your kids watch the news? I make sure my kids watch the news and understand that there are bad things that happen to people and to be street smart. I think news exposure is very important to them learning about the real world. My sister is just the opposite, her and her husband shield their kids from reality and I think it does them a disservice.
I've always let my kids watch the news. Mostly they want to watch it for the weather but in my opinion, if they are sophisticated enough to want to watch the news, then it's best to let them. I don't know why kids today are more interested in the news than kids used to be -- when I was little, the news meant it was time to change the channel because we weren't interested.
IMHO, network and local TV news is a bad idea for kids 6 and under. As a news industry vet, the adage, "If it bleeds, it leads" still applies. Younger children cannot analyze the important parts of a local or network newscast so no need to just expose them to the crime/mayhem.
Older kids can certainly understand issues behind news, but I would not direct them to TV news regularly.
What do you guys think about having your kids watch the news? I make sure my kids watch the news and understand that there are bad things that happen to people and to be street smart. I think news exposure is very important to them learning about the real world. My sister is just the opposite, her and her husband shield their kids from reality and I think it does them a disservice.
I'm against it. Children should be focused on other things. We have no television and talk very little about the news. It's just too overwhelming. We do talk about local news on occasion, as well as important national events. I watched the presidential debates with my children (followed by lots of questions and discussion). But for the most part we try to minimize the influence of news in their lives. As for understanding that bad things happen to people in the world, they'll have plenty of time to absorb the badness throughout their lives without burdening their childhoods with problems they can do nothing about. They have lots of people to pray for in their own lives already.
Besides, what is often presented as "news" is really just sensationalism and ignorance. Neil Postman gives a humorous example of this:
"The latest poll indicates that 72 percent of the American public believes we should withdraw economic aid from Nicaragua. Of those who expressed this opinion, 28% thought Nicaragua was in Central Asia, 18% thought it was an island near New Zealand, and 27.4% believed that Africans should help themselves, obviously confusing Nicaragua with Nigeria. Moreover, of those polled, 61% did not know that we give economic aid to Nicaragua, and 23% did not know what economic aid was."
Newswatching: depends on the child's age and depends on the child. Parental discussion and answering the child's questions are key. Ditto with reading newspapers, news magazines (if there are any left!) and online news sources.
Car trips/driving: Get rid of the in-car video games, movies, etc. Introduce the Alphabet Game (look for letters - in order - on roadside signs. No omissions allowed. First to get to Z wins. No cheating allowed). Tell stories. Talk about the scenery. Seek out interesting places to visit to break the trip. Research places along the route ahead of time. Sing songs. Discuss what it might be like to live in the places along the road: cities, towns, countryside. Count horses or cows. Count and stamp white horses (not white cows). First one to get to 100 wins (or gets their wish - which only comes true if left untold). If you're driving to Grandma's, talk about how different travel was when Grandma was a kid, or when you were a kid.
Everyone "knows" that travel is educational and broadening. But sometimes, adults have to make sure it stays that way...
I'm against it. Children should be focused on other things. We have no television and talk very little about the news. It's just too overwhelming. We do talk about local news on occasion, as well as important national events.
Don't you have older children as well? I understand to some extent limiting news viewing with very young/younger children but I don't understand the thought that what is going on in the world (both locally, nationally and internationally) is "too overwhelming" to expose to older children. The job of a parent is to prepare a child for adulthood. If you are raising children who have little to no concept of the world outside their immediate family and very select outside influences, how do you expect the adults to become to develop thoughts and opinions for themselves? I guess unless one really isn't raising children with that particular goal in mind.....
Don't you have older children as well? I understand to some extent limiting news viewing with very young/younger children but I don't understand the thought that what is going on in the world (both locally, nationally and internationally) is "too overwhelming" to expose to older children.
Yes, I have older children. Daily news consumption is too overwhelming for most adults, myself included. We're not made to live that way, preoccupied with the media-selected events of strangers across the world. Exposure is one thing, immersion is another. We talked about Sandy Hook for about two days - the day it happened and the day after - and that was plenty. The world is still wringing its hands, unable to process just one tragedy randomly selected out of hundreds in the same news cycle. I really think the news media is all about distracting people from less sensational but more important concerns right under their noses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maciesmom
The job of a parent is to prepare a child for adulthood. If you are raising children who have little to no concept of the world outside their immediate family and very select outside influences, how do you expect the adults to become to develop thoughts and opinions for themselves?
"To develop thoughts and opinions for themselves" - that is precisely the reason for limiting media influence. The news media is not going to tell them what's important and what isn't, what's worth thinking about and what isn't, what their social and political priorities ought to be. My older children are extremely well-informed when it comes to the big picture, but they're not bogged down by media-driven minutiae.
Yes, I have older children. Daily news consumption is too overwhelming for most adults, myself included. We're not made to live that way, preoccupied with the media-selected events of strangers across the world. Exposure is one thing, immersion is another. We talked about Sandy Hook for about two days - the day it happened and the day after - and that was plenty. The world is still wringing its hands, unable to process just one tragedy randomly selected out of hundreds in the same news cycle. I really think the news media is all about distracting people from less sensational but more important concerns right under their noses.
"To develop thoughts and opinions for themselves" - that is precisely the reason for limiting media influence. The news media is not going to tell them what's important and what isn't, what's worth thinking about and what isn't, what their social and political priorities ought to be. My older children are extremely well-informed when it comes to the big picture, but they're not bogged down by media-driven minutiae.
So you only want them to hear your interpretation of the news? Got it.
The news media is not going to tell them what's important and what isn't, what's worth thinking about and what isn't, what their social and political priorities ought to be.
So who tells them all this?
You?
Who decides what's worth "thinking about" and what isn't?
Deciding for another person what is "worth thinking about" and what isn't is also called thought control. Fabulous stuff if you're interested in being the feudal lord of your own little fiefdom. Or keeping your children under your thumb. Thankfully, most parents encourage their children to grow wings and think for themselves. I cannot imagine a parent not wanting to give their child the gift of freedom at it's very essence: the freedom to think for yourself.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 01-13-2013 at 08:00 PM..
Yes, I have older children. Daily news consumption is too overwhelming for most adults, myself included. We're not made to live that way, preoccupied with the media-selected events of strangers across the world. Exposure is one thing, immersion is another. We talked about Sandy Hook for about two days - the day it happened and the day after - and that was plenty. The world is still wringing its hands, unable to process just one tragedy randomly selected out of hundreds in the same news cycle. I really think the news media is all about distracting people from less sensational but more important concerns right under their noses.
"To develop thoughts and opinions for themselves" - that is precisely the reason for limiting media influence. The news media is not going to tell them what's important and what isn't, what's worth thinking about and what isn't, what their social and political priorities ought to be. My older children are extremely well-informed when it comes to the big picture, but they're not bogged down by media-driven minutiae.
Did I say they should be immersed in TV news? I don't recall saying that. Pretty sure I said exposed. 18 yos vote. I sure would prefer they were thinking and forming their own opinions prior to voting. I think watching, listening and discussing (and yes, even occasionally discussing presentation) is a vital tool for teaching children to become independent thinking adults.
"'Life outcomes for American youth are worsening, especially in comparison to 50 years ago,' says Darcia Narvaez, Notre Dame professor of psychology who specializes in moral development in children and how early life experiences can influence brain development.
'Ill-advised practices and beliefs have become commonplace in our culture, such as the use of infant formula, the isolation of infants in their own rooms or the belief that responding too quickly to a fussing baby will spoil it,' Narvaez says.
"This new research links certain early, nurturing parenting practices ... to specific, healthy emotional outcomes in adulthood, and has many experts rethinking some of our modern, cultural child-rearing 'norms.'"
I liken this to the many stories in recent years with headlines like "Research shows male and female brains are different!" What used to be common sense and human intuition now has to be "proven" by endless academic studies or it just isn't believed.
Were these examples not the norm 50 years ago?
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Originally Posted by Vectorhead
This article doesn't make sense. I agree with her on a lot of her points but the fact is, most of the 'issues' she talks about are better, not worse, than 50 years ago. Breastfeeding hit its all-time LOW in the early 70s and is much higher now. Cosleeping is way up and so is the whole idea of responding right away to your baby (lots of young parents think that letting a baby cry himself to sleep is tantamount to child abuse). Helicopter parenting can be considered an extreme case of responding to your child's every whim. It is an issue today but was unheard of 50 years ago.
Yes, this.
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