too young for the news?

**allyray231** · 01-30-2007, 07:52 AM

I wanted to ask you ladies of older children a question. My niece is 10 years old and when my mom called her last night she was crying. My mom asked her what was wrong and she said she had been watching the news and saw something about Iraq and it upset her. My first thought was why at 10 is she watching news and images of war on TV at night?

Am I wrong? Should a 10 year old watch and know what is going on?

TIA!

**tlew12778** · 01-30-2007, 08:29 AM

I'm not a mom but the first war in Iraq started when I was around that age. For our social studies homework one night, we had to watch the news, and do a current events project on what we saw.

Personally, kids nowadays are learning a lot more a lot earlier (I see this with my nieces and nephews who range in age from 8-20). I don't think it's inappropriate for a 10 year old to watch the news. You cannot keep kids sheltered forever and they need to start learning about politics at some point.

**mamax2** · 01-30-2007, 10:18 AM

I'm not a mother of a child that age either, but my first thought was "Did she see the news at home or school?" TVs are in most classrooms these days and in many public schools, they receive extra funding via forced viewing of 'Channel One' news programs. So, even if you didn't want your kid watching the news, their school might not be supporting that.

IMO, I would limit news-watching. I mean, there's news and there's gory details, kwim? I wouldn't want to expose my kid to stuff that's going to give them nightmares no matter how relevant it is to politics, social studies, etc. That said, I think reading the paper and watching news WITH your child (so you can explain certain situations) is definitely beneficial as they reach pre-teen and teenage years.

**udsweetpea** · 01-30-2007, 10:21 AM

I was 9 when the first Iraq war was going on, and I watched the news about it all the time. Maybe your friend hasn't prepared her properly and talked about the war with her daughter, and this was the first thing she saw of it?

ETA- I haven't seen any gory news stories related to Iraq, so I'm not understanding what upset her so much.

**allyray231** · 01-30-2007, 10:26 AM

I don't really know what she was watching and if she was watching it with her parents or not but I know it was at home and not in school

**maggieb** · 01-30-2007, 10:29 AM

I was a fifth grade teacher before I began staying home with my children and fifth graders are 10-11 years old. At that age I would certainly let my child watch the news, but with my guidance and explanations. This is the age that children start to understand world issues, but need support and guidance from parents.

**allyray231** · 01-30-2007, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by maggieb

I was a fifth grade teacher before I began staying home with my children and fifth graders are 10-11 years old. At that age I would certainly let my child watch the news, but with my guidance and explanations. This is the age that children start to understand world issues, but need support and guidance from parents.

Ah that is a great point maggieb. Maybe that is what I am worried about that her parents weren't with her. Have to try and find out more

Thanks!

**lady1297** · 01-30-2007, 10:45 AM

I watched the news from infancy on, as did my brother. My son knows that in the morning and when Daddy gets home, we watch the news. He's 2 1/2 and I don't htink that he's too young. I think the sooner you expose them to the world, the sooner they understand that there is a world out there. That being said, I don't think my son actually watches the news at this age. He is usually off playing in another part of the room.