AIBU to want Year 3 given discussion after watching Newsround?

[jesst81]

My 7-year-old daughter (Year 3) is really struggling with anxiety at the moment and I’m wondering if I’m being unreasonable here.
Her grandfather passed away about five weeks ago, which I’m sure is playing a part. We’ve been doing a lot of talking at home about feelings and grief, and generally she’s quite a sensitive child. She also loves learning about the world and is very curious.
Recently the school have been showing Newsround to the class during the day. I understand that it’s aimed at children and that the school say it’s appropriate from age 6+, but lately it has been covering things like the war in the Middle East and the UK’s involvement. My daughter seems to find this really worrying.
The issue for me isn’t necessarily that they watch it — it’s that there doesn’t seem to be much context or discussion afterwards. From what I understand, the children watch it and then move straight on with the day. My daughter comes home with lots of questions and worries that she doesn’t fully understand.
Her anxiety has escalated quite a lot. A few weeks ago she might have had the occasional wobble, but now she’s having what I’d describe as anxiety attacks several times a day. It’s really distressing to see.
I have spoken to the school and her teacher, but the general response has been that it’s age-appropriate and that they try to talk about it later in the week if they have time. I completely understand teachers are busy, but I’m struggling with the idea of children this young watching news about war without the space to process it or ask questions.
Am I being unreasonable to expect a bit more explanation or discussion around it for children this age?
Just interested to hear how other schools handle this or whether anyone has been in a similar situation.

I wonder what the logic is behind finding the time to show it but not to discuss (ie learn from) it? It is potentially a hugely useful source of discussion.

We show Newsround at my school as the children have come into assembly, and no children have raised these worries so far. If it is shown as part of a lesson, I would expect a discussion, but if it is shown before assembly, as children settle in etc, I wouldn’t expect there to be a discussion afterwards. Has your DD raised her worries with her teacher?

I don't see any problem you just need to make sure you make time for those discussions at home if she tells you her worries.

Our school shows Newsround as children are getting their stuff for the end of the day. This gives them the opportunity to discuss it with their parents at pick up.

I sort of see your point but i think the main thing is that you discuss it with her as a parent.

We used to watch it on the telly at home and then straight in to Grange Hill afterwards. No “let’s all discuss this” needed. Newsround is an excellent programme and puts the context in that you are wanting.

I'd be disappointed with the teacher's response, you have told her your child is struggling with it so I feel the least they could do is spend a short amount of time discussing it as a class. There's likely other children that don't understand or find it anxiety provoking too?
Have school suggested any other emotional support for your daughter? When my DC was struggling emotionally with something (not even as impactful as a bereavement) the school pastoral lead did a couple of one to one sessions with them, which really helped.

I would think that if it’s being shown it should be linked to their learning for that day. A discussion after it’s shown to answer any questions. Maybe before their history listen where they are studying world war 2 etc…

If it’s not linked to their learning then it shouldn’t be shown. At primary school age, it’s up to the parents to decide which parts of the daily news their children should be hearing about.

A PP mentioned, it’s shown on entry into assembly. I find this odd too and unnecessary.

I dont know why 6 year olds need to be exposed to all this stuff. How does it benefit them exactly?

I used to be very very anxious when I used to hear the Newsround theme tune. That was in the 70s. I used to go out the front room when it came on.

They show it around 1 o’clock just after they’ve had lunch and then continue with their lessons until the end of school. We are discussing this at home and try our best to alleviate any worries that she may have and talk it through. We also make sure she doesn’t see any adult news about it.

I realise people are saying their schools do it, so I guess it must be common, but I would have issues with a primary school showing any media content like this without opportunity for discussion. (Same goes for movies shown in class just to keep the occupied and entertained.)

Please can you tell me what you feel the perceived benefits are of showing children Newsround?

There are Plenty of adults avoiding the news for mental health reasons now, it’s absolutely depressing and unnecessary.

7-10 year olds should be more worried about finding insects, learning about cultures, arts and crafts, you know, the fun stuff. They won’t need to be hearing about all that’s going on.

Totally inappropriate. Why can’t the start of assembly be about singing, or showing beautiful images of the world, or snapshots of inspiring professions?

Same at our school, they watch it at the end of the day.

I'd just discuss it with her at home - to be honest I'm not sure discussing it at school would necessarily help as some of the questions the other DC might ask could worry her more (thinking of my own history mad DS1).

Isn't it part of your role to discuss things with your child. Ask her what she thinks is happening and why. Correct if necessary. Explain that wars sadly happen and that this one will not effect her or you apart from prices may go up. Explain and discuss regularly so she knows where she stands.

Personally my political, moral and religious outlook was fairly much formed by the time I was 11 by my parents and their friends. I've questioned their views and have got rid of the racist element, but the rest has stuck.

They just created you an unnecessary job.

It’s worrying for adults, it must be terrifying for children. They shouldn’t leave them sitting with that information.

I wonder if the curriculum includes, keeping up with current affairs - surely not for primary aged children.

@FasterMichelin if you watch a lot of Newsround, the vast majority of it isn’t doom and gloom. This morning the children were watching a feature on inspiring books. The other day, there was a great feature on robots. We have had very positive parent feedback about showing it. It is also only on while
the children come into assembly, so for around ten mins at most, if not less.

But if it’s a source of anxiety for some children, why bother? What are they gaining versus losing?

There are loads of positive resources out there that don’t create anxiety, so why keep something that often does?

Why can’t schools critically assess what they’re doing? It shouldn’t take a genius to say “this is making some of our children anxious, and it’s an unnecessary resource, let’s change it”. If you’re trying to benefit the children, then choose things that are beneficial!

Childrens mental health is in the pits right now, as is adults. Let’s not be passive and watch it deteriorate, let’s try to inject positivity and innocence back into childhood, starting with home life and school life.

Completely agree with this.

If the teacher wants to continue showing it- and I can see why they may feel it appropriate- perhaps your DD could go somewhere else at that time? There’s usually a little job that can be cooked up, pencil sharpening in the corridor or tidying the cloakroom. Maybe that would allow her a bit longer to process her worries.

'Correct if necessary'

If you ask 100 people what has happened in the world in the last 3 years, you'll get 100 different answers and reasons why

OP has the right to discuss things with her child when she is good and ready, not becuase a school has decided to show the news to children when quite honestly the subject is distressing, confusing and anxiety provoking for most adults and not necessary for children of that age

Have it as a lesson (Id rather not) but not as 'heres the news, speak to your mum about it'.

Of course it’s my part to make sure that she understands what’s going on in the world and I do do this. I just feel that by the time she gets to me to ask these questions it’s spiralled. I watch newsround myself to make sure I know what she’s going to see in the day and we discuss it. she actually really enjoys usually watching Newsround but obviously this part of the news isn’t something that she’s able to deal with currently. The school are going to help her with anxiety with the support they offer.

Current affairs and learning about what’s going on in the world is expected both at primary and at secondary. Newsround is often recommended as being an appropriate thing to watch.

i do agree however that at the moment there are a lot of people (adults and children) with heightened anxiety and this sort of thing is far more tricky than it used to be.

i remember sitting in a meeting when the Ukraine war broke out and us looking at each other and sighing because we clearly needed to address it and do some stuff in school about it because some children see the adult news and they can get very very frightened especially if they have not fully understood it.

muggins here got the job of writing the pshe sessions on it for the whole school.

more seriously, there will be children in the school who have family and friends affected by the situation and newsround is much much better than the kinds of rumours that go around from half understood adult news.

so - maybe raise it with school, but I doubt they will stop showing it.

Mine watch it at the end of the day. They come home full of questions. No anxiety. I like that they have a little bit of knowledge about what’s going on in the world. It’s age appropriate and not too heavy going.

So if one child experiences anxiety, the whole class must stop watching?

Both my DS at primary school - DS1 is 11 and they watched the whole episode on the Monday morning. I was glad as he had been watching the news over the weekend so this would have explained it in a better way than I could. DS2 is 8 and he said his teacher fast forwarded that part!