School letting 8 year old watch newsround

[rhonyvsrhobh]

I think that it is important for children to know what is happening in the world - to an extent.

My 8 year old, primary 4 daughter came home today very upset and worried as she had seen on Newsround which is shown at her school that Russia have invaded Ukraine. She has asked me several times if we were going to get 'hit'. I have tried to reassure her that it won't happen (what else can I say) and not to worry. She then asked me to swear on her life that we won't be affected by it. I said I couldn't swear on her life but not to worry, it won't happen.

She is very anxious and I just don't think something so serious should have been shown to 8 year old children. I feel so sorry for them, they've had covid and now this!

AIBU to contact the school about this or am I being precious?

I think reading between the lines it's not that you are worried about the school showing an age appropriate realistic account of what is happening in the world.
I think it's more that you need that reassurance yourself as a parent that the worst won't happen.
I think that's how most of us feel to be honest.
There is enough upsetting things happening in our own personal lives (for most of us anyway) and the problems in the wider world just add to that and tip anxiety over the edge.

Being precious

I remember watching Schindler's List at school 😬, not primary but still it stayed with me forever but not in a bad way, I’m glad we were allowed to watch it and we were not shielded from the truth.

Blimey- I was reading newspapers from a younger age than that and watching The World at War with my grandma when I was 4 (I remember her telling me that she was desperate to see if she could spot my grandfather in the reels, and he had just died). We always had the news on too.

@MrsTerryPratchett

There are currently children IN UKRAINE. Poor little buggers.

What helps DD is to do something. So we gave money (mine and hers) to an Afghan women's charity when there was news about Afghanistan. If we talk about Ukraine we will do something to help them.

Keeps the focus external, focused on helping, and showing we have power to change things and help. Rather than an anxious internal focus on the safety of self.

Love this post and idea.

Of course an 8 year-old is not too young to watch Newsround - that’s literally its target demographic! We do children a massive disservice by shielding them from hearing about current affairs in an age-appropriate way. As others have said, it’s far better that they’re informed about these things and given the chance to discuss them, ask questions, etc, than to be kept in the dark until they hear things (often inaccurately) from their peers.

If you have an exceptionally anxious child though, I can of course understand limiting exposure to the news slightly more than one normally would.

Very sensible of the school of you ask me. Newsround is specifically aimed at you g children and it's important we don't wrap them in cotton wool. ...

We’re currently on half term. I usually actively encourage my dc to watch the news and discuss topics but dh and I have decided to actually protect them from the Ukraine news at this point. Eldest knows but younger two don’t. They are Year 6 and we will discuss it over the weekend as their friends will undoubtedly tell them on Monday so sadly I can’t hide it from them forever.

I would hope school would handle it sensitively. There are Eastern European children in the school (although I’m not aware of any dc specifically from Ukraine I wouldn’t necessarily know that). Once in school it’s harder to protect them so an opportunity for them to discuss with you. We’ll do a little chat and then something about being a family and getting through things that are scary together, then distract with something else.

I am anxious about the goings on in the world and to be honest, other than telling my daughter it won't happen (even though I don't know that) I don't know what else to say or do to calm her

This will be far, far more damaging than watching Newsround.

Oh and @MrsTerryPratchett is spot on about encouraging DC to focus on what they can do to help - the scariest part for kids is feeling powerless, I think, and this is a good way to deal with that

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Schools
BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC1 during the daytime, apart from coverage of major news events which saw the programmes shifted to BBC2. In September 1983 programming was transferred permanently to BBC2 freeing BBC1 to develop its own daytime schedule. The strand, named Daytime on Two, remained on BBC Two until March 2010, later supplemented by the 'Class TV' strand on the CBBC Channel.

Spot the posters who really could improve their general knowledge.

Who remembers watching 'words and pictures' at school? The one where you draw letters in the air with your finger.

We also watched Schlinders List at school as teenagers. It wasnt even on tv. It was a full on trip to the cinema. Obviously this should never have been allowed.

@Chely

Being precious

I don't think it has anything to do with that.

Someone brought up 9/11 up thread. I was 12 or 13 when that happened, and there was no escaping it. It was talked about constantly on the radio, the TV, even WWF had segments dedicated to remembering victims. I don’t think I watched Newsround at the time, but there was no need to. The clips of the planes hitting the towers were played on a loop, and that was before social media. I would rather my daughter heads about the war in a safe place with a responsible adult who could answer questions, rather than get a possibly incorrect account of what’s happening online.

You’re being ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. While you’re worried about your precious child watching Newsround, there are children the same age being bombed. Jesus Christ. My child watches newsround everyday as they do not live in a bubble and are aware of the world around them.

Gosh far better they hear it on Newsround than snatches in the playground or the car radio or online. Or do some people have a news black out in their homes?
I was a news geek, mind. Watched Newsriund from a v young age and grew up to become an actual journalist. My children always had access to news, and to me at tea time to help explain and contextualise it if necessary.

Please don't worry about it. Honestly, it's a good thing she'd seen it. Being able to talk rationally to your DC about what they've seen, and giving them time to reflect and ask questions, is a good way to build their resilience and emotional intelligence. Much better than complaining to the school or refusing to address it: doing either of these will just reinforce her thoughts that she can't cope with that kind of knowledge.

This thread has just reminded me that when I was 10 I was doing interviews for secondary scools and said I enjoyed watching Newsround (I didn't really but we all knew we had to say we liked watching Newsround rather than Neighbours) and so got asked about what the news was and it was Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan. All these years later and what a mess these countries are in...

I know it's hard talking about things that make us anxious with young kids OP but information and knowledge is power - like a PP who thought her dad was going to get conscripted in the Falklands War, kids imagination will run wild with snippets of info and much better to have a proper talk about it and a reassuring hug.

Newsround is a great resource and our school also shows it every day to my now yr 6 but has done since Yr 4 at least.

That being said, in lockdown 1 we did limit watching it to one or twice a week in the end as the constant exposure to covid news was becoming too much (yr 4 at the time) so I understand the worry.

I am not at all an anxious person but even I had to limit my news exposure at that time so I don't think it is unreasonable to realise that some children will find the current news coverage anxiety inducing given it is likely to feature daily for quite some time, sadly 😥

What was the 1980s newspaper for kids called? I can't remember its name. I definitely read that at primary.

Newsround is the perfect outlet for news seen by children from 7 to 12. You're being precious, it's so important kids grow up aware of current events, appropriately framed.

Sorry I should add that I don't think you are being precious to worry but I definitely don't think you should raise it with school. Have an open chat at home and just reassure her.

It's specifically FOR children! You need to talk about important events like these with her more often

It will be a major topic of conversation at school, in the playground and in the classroom. Much better that they learn about the news from a reputable source such as Newsround or First News (my DC's primary school had copies in the year 4, 5 and 6 classrooms) than by gossiping about what someone's parent read in the Daily Mail.

I remember being terrified that the children in my school would be killed after the Aberfan disaster. Nobody thought to explain that we were nowhere near unstable coal slag heaps but there were plenty of gory stories in the playground.

Newsround explains stuff like this in a really suitable way for young children OP,don't worry.
I also caught radio one news on the way home in the car...I'm clearly not the target market for it, but it was dealing with the news in a very clear way, I think maybe aimed at teens/young people?
Might be worth a listen OP...I think the more you understand yourself, the easier it is to explain to DC?

YABU
Most schools watch Newsround.
Tailored specifically to children.
It's important children know what is going on in the world and that life isn't all rosy.