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Kids & Current Events
Rated by 4 members
One of our greatest hopes for our children is that they grow up aware not only of our history, but of what's going on in the world today.
My husband and I have always had a big interest in American history, government, and politics. During my husband's military career, we visited museums, Revolutionary and Civil War battle grounds, and many historical and memorial sites as the Navy moved us all over the country.
On a trip to New York City, we took some time away from tourist sight-seeing to pay our respects at Ground Zero. The walls of our home reflect that place in our hearts, too. Above our mantle hangs an American flag quilt, which I made in the months following September 11, 2001, as well as a painting our daughter Sabrina created of the New York City skyline without the Twin Towers.
And more recently, our family's interest in local government and politics has reached a new high, because my husband is running for local office in this fall's upcoming election. Our home is abuzz with talk of policies, platforms, and campaign strategy.
Despite all of this, we struggled to find news on current events that was accessible to kids. So I started researching and found a treasure-trove of print and online news magazines written just for children:
These news magazines have made our kids' current events assignments much easier to manage, and we love that our kids pick them up to read even when a school assignment isn't coming due.
How do you get your kids interested in current events? Click the comments link below to find and share ideas.
Member Comments On…
Kids & Current Events
I agree that we have to expose our children in a correct, safe and nurturing way. Kids are exposed to way more than we can imagine! By guiding them with child centered information, we are helping them to understand the facts,the story - not just the terrible rumors and horrific images pasted around. I saw this first hand after 9-11. I was teaching 5th grade. The children whose parents talked with them about the situation had a much better understanding, not to mention a feeling of peace, knowing that they were safe. Many of the other students had very unrealistic fears, horrible misconseptions and were very confused and frighted. Take the time to talk with your kids, these sources are good, age appropriate and will help children grow as citizens.
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Thanks for the additional sources, especially since these are online, for more age and sensitivity appropriate content that our children can view for "news" and "current events". It can be very difficult for schoolwork or even personal interest to find traditional newspaper or journalistic information that is not filled with overly graphic or "in your face" content that just is not appropriate for younger readers. Again, thanks for sharing forward. My Daughter's Internet Explorer default homepage is http://www.kids.gov/ so she will especially enjoy visiting the Science News for Children website.
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I'm with CaliMamma on this one. I think my kids would resent me if I raised them to believe the world was purely a benevolent, benign place and they eventually had to find out otherwise.
Also, this Dream Team writer isn't talking about foisting horrifying images on her children: She's talking about finding kid-friendly sources that still give the straight dish about what's happening in the world. As parents, I think it's our duty to raise children well-versed in that not-so-pleasant parts of living in this world. Thoughout history, society only improves when we face our ugliness head-on. Raising children with this habit toward avoidance and insularity seems like a recipe to create apathy and intolerance later on.
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I'm horrified by parents who think totally sheltering kids from what's happening in the world will somehow prevent them from being exposed to it. Yes, kids can be frightened by the world -- which is even more reason to take the time to discuss world events with kids in a thoughtful, appropriate way. By not addressing the news at all, you're closing the door on communication -- which is exactly what children need. When they see a newspaper headline, they need to feel comfortable coming to Mom and asking what it means. Talking with kids about the world isn't stripping kids of their innocence, it's helping to protect it.
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I am cautious about the news I expose my children to. They are young and so much of our news is about violence and tragedy. I am not ready to strip their innocence any faster than I have to. I am however thrilled about the science website they noted in the article! My daughter is a scientist in traing and I believe this website will be very interesting for us.
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Children don't need to see all that is going on in the world, why strip their innocence? I remember the evening news as a child & was completely frightened by the images from the Viet Nam war that were broadcast nightly, those images are still so clear & really were not neccessary. I vowed long ago never to allow those images to take away my childrens childhood.
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