To try to protect DC from horrible things on the news

[19Bears]

The 6 o clock news was about to start and I knew they would be leading with the awful story about Arthur. I went to get the remote to switch channels as the DC were sitting right in front of the TV and I really didn't want them listening to the harrowing details. But DH had already picked up the remote - to tut the volume up!! I took it off him quickly but he was moaning that he wanted to see it, that it was a terrible story, and that it was important to hear what sentence the parents had got. I'm not arguing that it's not an awful story, just that I don't want my kids hearing about this right now! It's Christmas ffs. Last Christmas he decided in his wisdom that would be a good day to watch something about authors writing about death. I just think some things they should be shielded from. Is it just me?

Daily Mail and Maxwell coverage that is - made me almost vomit - there was no need for that level of detail - though I notice its not there right now. Disgusting, as I said.

Yanbu, our job as parents is to act as a filter, you can mention or talk about something in passing but the news can be bleak for adults. But honestly to each their own-I remember my friend in the pandemic peak, when they were showing the lining up of ambulances with bodies in them in italy, and mass graves worldwide, and the inside of hospital covid wards, telling me her children weren't sleeping after seeing the news and when I told her they didn't watch it she very obviously thought I was babying them. So yeah, it's up to the parent really- mine knew it was serious, knew there were deaths and people could get sick but they don't have the images from this that I have in my mind.

I'm all for my DC aged 9 and 7 to have some idea of what goes on in the world, good and bad, but there's some stuff they just don't need to see or hear. I have been unable to read or listen to very much of the Arthur case myself. I turned off the radio this afternoon when the news was on and my DC were in the car. I know my older DC would find it very troubling. They don't need too much heaviness at their ages, there's plenty of it in Adulthood.

It’s not Christmas. The news is harrowing. Perhaps your children could be otherwise occupied if one of the adults wants to and does watch the news.

No. This is not appropriate for small DC to hear. Fuck me, we've had posts all week from adults who've been sobbing over this/traumatised and many kids have been left terrified by all the coverage of Covid they've been subjected to in their own homes.
Easy for me to say though, I don't have a TV, read newspapers etc, so can easily censor what DD7 hears and sees.

YANBU. The media often goes into truly horrifying (ghoulish) detail about cases like this - you can talk your children about the bad things that happen in the world without exposing them to the unfiltered news when they are very young. I understand that footage/audio of this poor child being abused has been made widely available in the media, and I don't think it would be appropriate to expose a young child to that.

I remember when Dunblane happened. I was a teen, but my brother was very small (a similar age to the victims). When my dad came home he told me not to let him watch the news.

My dad wasn't overprotective at all normally, but he (rightly imo) didn't think that was the best way for a small child to find out about the horrors in the world.

And the ghouls listening to video footage of a child being tortured need help.

When I was a child in the 80s my dad would watch the news after work and some of it must have really affected me - I remember I had nightmares about Argentinian soldiers out to shoot me (around the time of the Falklands War - I was 4).
Then I had nightmares about other wars; about volcanoes erupting and other disasters... this would have been before I was about 9.
I think my Dad didn't realise how much of the News I took in and yet didn't really understand, which made my fears worse.

I think that if you're going to let children watch the news you have to explain it to them and make sure they understand it.

At 9 DS1 (as I was) is reading the paper and I think that’s a good thing in moderation. A bit younger and I would agree with you and for some reason TV footage would bother me more. But an age appropriate understanding of the world is important.

I am unnervingly honest with my children about what’s going on in the world and answer all their questions directly. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped them watching anything or thought things unsuitable - although I will sometimes intervene to explain why I think something they’ve seen is wrong.

But I turned the radio down when the news item came on about poor Arthur this morning. I couldn’t bear for my son to hear about it and to risk it being as upsetting for him as it has been for me.

I think it depends how it’s presented.
Very matter if fact, child has been killed, father and step mum sentenced fine.
Emotional description with harrowing details, not fine.

Just like I dint think seeing beheading would be ok either but talking about the fact they happen yes iyswim….

When I was growing up, I was watching the news too but there was never that level of emotional strings to them. Nit did you ever risk watching someone getting killed in front of your eyes.

Generally, I think a problem with stopping them seeing/hearing about things is that you can’t control what they hear from other places. So if something happened, and another child at school mentioned it, your child may get a distorted story that upsets them more than if you had explained it to them.
And hearing small details about a story can also be worse. I remember being young and hearing my parents briefly discussing a new disease, I can’t even remember what it was but I’d guess SARS given my age at the time. My parents aren’t worriers, and won’t have been particularly worried about SARS but I must have overheard just the wrong sentence and honestly was convinced we were all going to die (unlike my parents, I have always been a worrier!)

Which isn’t to say just let them watch whatever, just that you giving an age appropriate explanation of something on the news, with an opportunity for them to ask questions if they have any, might protect them better.

I haven't let my 9 year old see any of that coverage, and in fact need to fast forward it myself as it's too upsetting.

YANBU.

My parents must have shielded me from a lot when younger. But Dunblane happened when I was 11. Old enough to not be able to be shielded, but terrifying and that still affects me now even though I lived no where near.