We need information on current events, but do our children benefit from all the daily hype that comes our way?
The world news is negative. No, more than negative—it is downright depressing. It destroys hope and gives the impression that nothing is being done to fix it.
As adults, we can evaluate the news that bombards us on television. But our children do not have the experience or wisdom to do the same. They see dead bodies, angry citizens, destroyed cities and even hear tales of other children being killed. This is happening and as parents we need to be aware of it. Our children do not benefit from viewing graphic demonstrations of horrors on nightly news.
We are producing generations of hopeless, paranoid humans. If you have studied history or have lived long enough to have experienced it, you know that as bad as it seems today the future is always brighter. Imagine how bleak the world seemed during the devastating plagues, World War I and World War II, the Great Depression of 1929, and our own 9/11. But then the population was not blitzed by continuous horror-filled graphic news.
Our children need to know about the evils in the world that might affect them. But it should be filtered out by the parents and heard from Mom or Dad. They need the security we can provide them. They need to be able to rely on us to protect them.
Don’t let our children saturate their brains with the trauma of television news unless you are there to temper it. Often discussion follows what they saw and that leads to helping them express their feelings. Thus, it becomes a guide to a mature, wise and realistic interpretation.
