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Some writers online are calling the COVID-19 pandemic this generation's 9/11, wondering if families are sitting around the TV watching coverage of the pandemic and its effect on the world.
I hope not.
This article has great info on how to explain what's going on to your kids while protecting them from the stress and anxiety that can result from their exposure to tons of news coverage:
"While each disaster is different, the news media use common practices when covering disasters. These practices include:
 A tendency to focus on the most sensational aspects of the disaster (such as death, injury, destruction)
 Repetitive use of emotion-stirring images and video (such as buildings burning or cars overturned)"
In times like this, children should be on a need-to-know basis.
Well my kids are only 5 and 1 so I don't tell them about the virus itself, but my 5 year old already knows about Washing her hands "to get the germs away" as she says. That's all I need to enforce right now. Even the 1 year old likes washing her hands. Well I wash them and she loves the water.
No need to get all hysterical scaring children who don't even know what a virus is....
I had to cancel my kid's birthday party because of COVID-19. However, we don't have cable and we don't play news in front of them.
I told them that there's a sickness going around but that it won't hurt them. I told them it can hurt grandma and grandpa, so they have to stay home and just skype with us.
They do a good job of counting to 20 while washing their hands, but--honestly--since everyone they interact with young, healthy, and low risk, I'm not really all that concerned. We don't spend a lot of time harping on it.
They've asked, and I've explained the details about viruses, but not sure if they understand most of it, since they're six. I'm more worried about the flu, since it's more dangerous to them, but this years vaccine seemed especially effective, and they were healthy--besides some sniffles and coughs--through the worst of the season.
I'm very glad COVID-19 is such a non-threat for children. Especially since you can't safely give cough suppressants/expectorants to children.
Well my kids are only 5 and 1 so I don't tell them about the virus itself, but my 5 year old already knows about Washing her hands "to get the germs away" as she says. That's all I need to enforce right now. Even the 1 year old likes washing her hands. Well I wash them and she loves the water.
No need to get all hysterical scaring children who don't even know what a virus is....
Is your 5-year-old not yet in kindergarten? When a child's school suddenly closes with an unclear reopening date and no chance to say goodbye to their teachers and friends, plus their sports and activities are canceled and they're not allowed to go to the playground or a friend's house, mom and dad are now home all day but working on their computers rather than able to play, they can't visit their grandparents, and they're sensing stress from the adults around them, their world is understandably rocked. There is so much more to this than handwashing that is affecting kids all across the world. For many, it would be futile to try not to talk to their children about it.
You're gonna have to unpack your theory because it's not at all obvious in what you wrote.
Not really because I don't think "not sheltering your kids" equals "unfettered access to 24-hour news coverage." And, not to be semantic, but "unfettered access" wasn't stated in your original post. Now, it may have been what you meant, but "sitting around watching coverage" could mean anything from "it's the only thing on the TV from sunup to sundown" to watching your half-hour local news coverage at 6 PM.
We watch a fair amount of coverage, although certainly not all day. I like to watch a little in the morning to catch up, catch the President's update around noon, and then watch local coverage from like 4:30-5:30 especially because that's typically when our governor gives his daily update, as my wife and I both have jobs that are heavily reliant on the things he has to say.
Now my 7-year-old daughter is not usually sitting there as the news is boring to her. That doesn't mean she doesn't come into the room sometimes when it's on. And she does of course hear us talking about certain things. Most children thrive on structure and routine and this has vastly disrupted that. So, yes, they do need to understand why. I guess I had the most problem with your OP with the "children should be on a need-to-know basis" comment. And, again, I don't lie to my kids or try to sugarcoat things.
Personally, I also haven't really seen that most coverage falls under the "sensationalist scenes" that are described in your link in the OP (death, destruction, etc.). Yeah, if 9/11 were happening today, I wouldn't let my daughter repeatedly watch the scenes of people jumping from the towers. What we're mostly getting here, though, is: how to keep ourselves and each other safe, how this is impacting our daily lives, and how the government is responding. Maybe we're just watching different coverage.
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