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Age-by-Age Insights
At every age and stage, children are affected by what's happening in the news, whether parents share this information or shield them from it — because the news is everywhere.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation Study, today's families are watching a lot of TV. 65% of today's children live in homes where the TV is on half the time, and in 36% of homes, the TV is on all the time. This study also points to research stating that TV in the background has an impact on children because "the content is not designed for them."
How many hours a day children are watching the news has not been definitively researched, but news exposure is clearly having an impact. Even if parents keep the TV news off around young children (as experts recommend) the news can still be seen at the supermarket, in a doctor's waiting room, or at a friend's house. Therefore it's not surprising that teachers are reporting that children as young as five are talking about the news — and see news events reflected in their play at school.
Because the news has saturated our daily lives, experts recommend you develop age-appropriate ways to talk about it with kids. While these conversations will be somewhat limited with younger children, experts recommend that you discuss the news in a more detailed way with older children. To help out, this article offers age-customized pointers for discussing the news with suggestions on how much (or how little) news they should be watching.
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