Elementary Education: June 2011

Media Matters: Kids and the News

By Joseph White, Ph.D.

Recent events such as the revolutions in the Middle East have made for exciting and historic news. But how much news is too much for children? We don’t want our children to be naive, and we can’t shelter them from everything, but the frequent doses of violence portrayed on the news can surely be too much. (According to U.S. Surgeon General reports, the percentage of children in the United States who have anxiety disorders has risen from 8 percent to 13 percent since 2001.) In the interest of letting kids be kids, here is an age-by-age guide for monitoring your child’s exposure to the news:

Ages 0-6

No news is good news. Children below the age of 7 not only have trouble understanding much of what is in the news, but also have difficulty putting the information into perspective because of their limited experience with the outside world. It will likely be difficult to shield children from news of national events such as 9/11, but even information about such widely reported news stories should come through a trusted adult who can help them understand — using age-appropriate language — what everyone is talking about.

Ages 7-12

Parental guidance suggested. If children this age are in the room (or car) when the news is on, parents should be especially vigilant for stories that are too graphic for their young ears. They may understand more than we think, or interpret information erroneously. Be especially careful to shield elementary-age kids from stories of crimes against children. There’s no evidence that exposure to these events via the news helps protect them from harm, and it may make them fearful.

Ages 13 and up

Talk about it. While young children may think everything will happen to them, teens usually have the opposite problem. Their belief in their own invincibility can sometimes be tempered by healthy exposure to news about others their age, and it’s important for teens to be knowledgeable about current events at a time when you still have the opportunity to give them your take on what’s going on in the world. One important exception to this is excessive media reports about teen suicides, which have been shown in some cases to cause epidemics of suicide. When suicide strikes close to home, it’s especially important to talk with teens about what’s going on in their lives and how they are feeling, but talking extensively about the suicides themselves may actually do more harm than good.

Family Media Makeover

Include current events in your mealtime prayers: “Tonight we pray for the people in Libya,” or “God, please bless the family of a classmate who was injured in a car crash.”
Part of the anxiety associated with too much bad news is the feeling of helplessness in the face of tragedy. Respond to a local or national news story as a family – write a letter, bring dinner to a neighbor in need or forgo a restaurant meal and donate the money to a cause making headlines.
Too much [bad] news can lead to anxiety among parents as well as kids. Limiting your family’s exposure to the 24-hour-news networks will help create a happier, healthier (and quieter) home.

Taken from the Summer 2011 issue of Take Out: Family Faith on the Go