is it okay to expose a 10 year old to all the evil in this world

[redsteel]

My ds has occasionally asked about bad things in the news such as murders and why this happens why would somebody just murder someone like that.
What should my answer be to him.
The latest one was the Johanna yeates murder he asked me why he murdered her and I just said because he is a very sick man who needs help to stop him doing those things.
So what should I say really.
It seems a shame to have to expose children to these things to me.

Such a difficult question. My dd1 aged nearly seven asked questions about the Joanna Yeates murder. She heard a bit of the news and saw a photo of Joanna Yeates cuddling a cat, and she asked if the girl was sad because her cat had died. I said yes. I didn't want to tell her the truth, maybe I should have done.

I think at 10, age-appropriate questions and answers are perfectly fine. It is horrible to have to talk about these things but bad things happen in the world and a child will be more disadvantaged by being overly sheltered.

I remember asking my mum about rape, after the Sheila Grant storyline in Brookside - think I was about the same age. She briefly explained what it was and kind of said the same thing as you. I was disturbed that people would do such things but also reassured that she had answered me honestly, and that I felt a bit better prepared.

The CBBC Newsround is a good place to look for examples of how to describe the news in terms suitable for children.

I like to watch the 6 O'Clock News, but am finding myself turning it off so the DCs don't see their more adult style coverage.

I had to explain about Jo Yeates to my 8-year-old DD because we are in Bristol so there have been posters etc everywhere, and the man they have now charged was arrested very close to us - we walked past all the police and TV vans for several days on the way to and from school.

I was honest with her about what had happened, without going into too much detail (though she did ask directly how she was killed), and then emphasized how rare it was for that kind of thing to happen in this country, which was why there were so many TV crews around. She seemed to accept it, and hasn't seemed unusually anxious or anything since.

But I have always been fairly honest with the DCs about death and disasters - DH died several years ago, we have a friend who was caught up in the tsunami in Sri Lanka (but survived), we experienced one very strong and scary earthquake in Japan (and lots of little ones), other friends were caught up in the Queensland floods recently etc.

I don't believe in protecting them from reality, but I do try to give them a realistic view of relative risks.