To wish my DCs' primary school would stop putting on Newsround every day?

[minkfondant]

Every class at my DCs' school seems to watch Newsround on a daily basis. Today my 8yo came home excitedly saying "A taxi blew up! It was so cool."

On previous occasions, they've come home telling me about things like George Floyd's murder including graphic details of how he was killed and North Korea possibly having nuclear weapons. 10yo asked if I think we'll have WW3 caused by North Korea.

We deliberately avoid watching news with them around, because so much of it is alarming for people who haven't yet got adult perspective on things. News TV is deliberately curated to make it as arresting and attention-grabbing as possible, and obviously concentrates more on the bad stuff than anything else.

Can't they just have a childhood before they're confronted with the dark sides of human nature?

AIBU to wish the school would leave Newsround out of the lesson plans?

@Bellfor

80 minutes out of the 1950 minutes they are at school a week? No, it's not a lot. And it's well worth it if it sparks debate. And ticks off some off the English NC too! (Oracy)

Well, yes, I can see it would 'tick off' some stuff - that is why it is being done no doubt!

Another bonus of watching the news in this way with discussion in class afterwards means children are exposed to different views which should help build critical thinking skills. In tne home children will only be exposed to the views of those in the home so may not learn to question things in the same way.

Do you think shielding them from the world will stop them from finding things out? Very Naive parenting from you. The show is made for kids!

News round is a fantastic way to show children what is happening in a factual child friendly way. Your child would find out about this stuff anyway and it's far better for them to learn through a reliable source than from Jimmy on the playground.

Good god you are unreasonable.

Kids need to learn about the world around them. Including the bad bits. General knowledge is a massively important thing.

You should not shield kids from the news. Not when its deliberately aimed at this age group.

I utterly despair of anyone who actively going out of their way to avoid the news.

Its an essential life skill to know what the fuck is going on beyond your front door and netflix.

I don't think my eyes can roll that far back

We're the complete opposite, we have the news on all the time and my DC (8 & 10) love a good current affairs discussion! Perhaps I'm turning them into mini news geeks!

@Bananabrush

I agree with you and I don’t think the news represents ‘reality’ in a way that’s helpful for adults or children, even if it’s age appropriate. I don’t follow current affairs myself because I find a daily account of all the bad things that happen in the world is terrible for my mental health. Human beings are designed to live in small communities - that is the scale that is comprehensible to us. Knowing about everything that happens everywhere, with no power to influence what happens, is of no use to us. If something really important is happening, you find out via word of mouth anyway and can investigate further if you’re interested. I would be happy with my kids seeing newsround occasionally but I don’t see why they have to be signed up to this constant news culture.

Newsround is hardly a new concept...it's been around daily for decades...

I used to put Newsround on for my then 8-9yo but stopped shortly before the first lockdown as he was becoming very anxious about Covid and was high risk for being susceptible to OCD behaviours or health anxiety. That doesn't mean he was kept in total ignorance, and he's been updated as cases peaked, rules changed etc, but we've kept to brief headlines of what's happening and avoided the mawkish reptition of news outlets/ current affairs.

I'm also not a great fan of the BBC's editorial on issues like "the climate crisis". That doesn't mean I shelter DS from environmental issues, or think that change of habits isn't worthwhile, but the "climate crisis" is often presented in a simplistic, narrow angle that ignores other slants of environmental change/ damage. Some children can also struggle with anxiety over large crises that they have little influence in.

Newsround is far from inherently bad, but different children do have different trigger points and the way Newsround can be used in a classroom can make it difficult to filter sensitive topics and debrief through areas causing distress.

Other areas of the curriculum may broach into difficult topics but school gives notice on likely books/ topics. The nature of current affairs removes that opportunity to brief parents and give them chance to give feedback in preparation.

My DD (9) watches new around at school. I think it is important for her to be aware of what is going on in the world in an age appropriate manner

I used to enjoy Newsround and current affairs at that age but I do feel the 24/7 news on a constant loop thing we seem to have today is unnecessary

You’re also not morally superior just because you’re obsessed with the news and it’s fine to switch off from it all. I regularly do as I often can’t be arsed with it.

@rrhuth

I don't know about in other schools but we have it on at snack time.

My view is that having background TV news instead of just space to chat to your friends is a step backwards for kids.

I'd rather my class were eating and drinking in snack time so they can then move onto other things. They can achieve this more effectively watching a short educational programme. If they are encouraged to talk then snack time takes at least double the time. I use this time to do instant intervention with individuals after a lesson. It works brilliantly and then the children can go out at break time and chat and play.

@Cam77

A big part of what’s wrong with the modern world is we’re obsessed with Big Stuff that’s happening 1000s of miles away and which the vast majority of us have virtually zero understanding of the complexities and context: Israel/Palestine, gun crime in the US, the war on drugs, the rise of China, poverty in Africa, etc etc. Aside from a shake of the head and a “how terrible” this stuff is meaningless to 90% of adults and 10x meaningless to children. We need people to start thinking locally and understanding and connecting with issues in our own towns and country first. That’s what primary school should be for - not worrying about North Korean nukes, global meltdown and the middle east.

This attitude pisses me off.

Its not a question of one or the other.

If you haven't learn how what happens in China, affects what happens in your neighbour in the last two years, I do despair.

It is important we know about both local and international issues.

Thing is I don't see much rush to support local news or newspapers by those who think localism is more important than internationalism.

I've banged on about the importance of local issues over the last few years precisely because I recognise there is a problem.

It doesn't stop me from also knowing we have to see the big picture too.

Ultimately kids will be exposed to the Big Bad World out there. I'd rather this happened in a controlled way from a young age.

DS watches at school every day. He loves it. He is only Y2 so younger than most on this thread by the sound of it. He is inspired by stories about volcanos cos they are exciting and its sparking interest. Newsround often has a lot of fluffy stories or stories about geography or history rather than stuff about Big Bad things. It also has stories about things closer to home - but you'd know that if you watched it occassionally or talk to your kids about what they see on it.

At 8 and 10 it’s time to allow them to start taking an interest in the world around them. YABVU.

I'd rather my class were eating and drinking in snack time so they can then move onto other things. They can achieve this more effectively watching a short educational programme. If they are encouraged to talk then snack time takes at least double the time. I use this time to do instant intervention with individuals after a lesson. It works brilliantly and then the children can go out at break time and chat and play.

Also in real life people eat while watching a bit of tv or a movie. We don't always need to be socialising or learning a skill. It's ok to just chill

@kittykutty

I'd rather my class were eating and drinking in snack time so they can then move onto other things. They can achieve this more effectively watching a short educational programme. If they are encouraged to talk then snack time takes at least double the time. I use this time to do instant intervention with individuals after a lesson. It works brilliantly and then the children can go out at break time and chat and play.

Also in real life people eat while watching a bit of tv or a movie. We don't always need to be socialising or learning a skill. It's ok to just chill

Totally agree. We already shoe horn so much into the day.

I teach 9-10 year old children and in my experience Newsround is a great resource to discuss things in an age appropriate way. It’s never too scary or overwhelming and opens up some amazing class discussion.

I hope you say him down and had strong words about how a taxi blowing up (and endangering women and babies) is most certainly NOT cool.

Jesus.

I grew up watching news in the 80s, as a child i saw the berlin wall come down, the challenger disaster, chernobyl, famine in Ethiopia, wars, terrorist attacks. It gave me an understanding of the world at large and although yes some of it made me scared or sad, those are perfectly normal reactions and not to be hidden from.

Amen to all of that @RedToothBrush

@rrhuth at no point did I say we watched it every day. I said we watched it in registration but I never said when or how often

think it is on the curriculum
at that age we had to read the papers and bring in articles of interest

Bloody schools trying to give children a rounded education and knowledge of the world around them.
Bastards.

@Cam77

Wouldn’t be too happy with my child being subjected to BBC worldview/propaganda on a daily basis.

😂😂😊

If your 10 year old thinks that taxis blowing up is "cool" it sounds like he could do with a little more exposure to real life, not less.

Jesus Christ, this.