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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

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Original poster

Does your teen read the news?

26 replies

purpleroses · 17/12/2013 17:10

DS is nearly 14 and has no inclination to read/watch/listen to the news. I feel he ought to be doing by his age. I tend to read online though so no papers lying round the house (except freebe local which he ignores). Is this the problem?

Any tips for getting them to take more interest in the world around them?

OP posts:

MrsBright · 17/12/2013 18:57

I wouldnt see it as an issue. We have BBC Breakfast on every morning and 'force' the 13 year old to watch the 6pm News (ie. the TV gets turned over at this point). Very occasionally she asks about something on the news but most of the time it goes over her head. We work on the 'drip drip' principle - gradually she will start to listen more, simply because its there.

Palika · 17/12/2013 19:10

Check out the "The Week" magazine. DS14 reads that with interest (really suprises me).

I read it too, it is a round-up of the week in a very succinct form. You can read the whole thing in an hour. I like it.

If DS would not read it I would not force him - there is enough to worry and battle about as it is

Creamycoolerwithcream · 17/12/2013 19:15

One of mine loves the news, local and international and reads and watches a lot of it. The other is totally uninterested. I don't worry.

freeezing · 17/12/2013 19:21

You're lucky. My 13 year old watches/reads all the news, has done for years - it terrifies her and too much in the Metro or other papers she finds lying about is seriously age-inappropriate. I really, really wish she hadn't started reading the news - it has also given her a very unrealistic perspective on things like airline crashes, which she imagines happen all the time and she has developed flying phobia as a result!

So really, be grateful - plenty of time for reading the papers once they are 6th form+.

starlightcookies76 · 17/12/2013 21:04

Daily Mail and BBC

BackforGood · 17/12/2013 22:21

ds (17) gets all his news from Twitter
dd1 (15) likes to come and watch the news with me, on the TV at the end of the evening
dd2 (12) not really interested at the moment since she outgrew First News.
However, if something 'big' is happening, someone will often ask about it at meal times, so it gets talked about so they have some idea of what's going on in the world.

chocoluvva · 17/12/2013 22:53

DD 17 not remotely interested in the news. She's slightly interested in the Scottish referendum (we're Scottish) and she did ask what Nelson Mandela had done.

Travelledtheworld · 17/12/2013 23:32

DD15 enjoys the Saturday Guardian magazine and has a good grasp of current affairs.
DS 13 is totally disinterested. His school encourage them to start reading more widely, including the newspapers, in year 9.

NoComet · 18/12/2013 00:05

DD1 (15) must do, she always seems to know what's going on in the world. I'm guessing she reads and watches the news on her lap top, iPod.

DD2 (13) I think just gossips with her mates. She might look online sometimes.

I'm a bad mother, I do not keep detailed tabs on what they do on their computers.

cory · 18/12/2013 08:20

Teens are all different: some are ready to engage with the outside world, some take their time. I wouldn't worry too much about it; not everybody has to do everything at exactly the same stage in their life.

southerngirl25599 · 18/12/2013 10:04

DD watches the news sometimes at night, but she listens to the radio news every morning on the way to school, her social studies teacher made her and the class have a news website as her homepage on her laptop, oh and she's addicted to the Show Biz section on the Daily Mail.

ChestnutsroastingintheFireligh · 18/12/2013 10:07

We have a daily local paper & both dc (almost 10 & 12) devour it. I used to buy First News when they were younger.

They rarely watch news on TV or read online unless they want to look up something specific.

ChestnutsroastingintheFireligh · 18/12/2013 10:08

I have been very concerned about age appropriateness though but it's hard to stop them getting hold if the paper.

Original poster

purpleroses · 18/12/2013 10:10

Thanks all - I'm not too concerned about age appropriateness - DS is quite a robut child, not easily frightened.

Might try 'The Week' magazine to see if that entices him, but maybe he will just develop an interest in time. I'd hate him to be one of those late teens that still has absolutely no interest in what's going on in the world though.

OP posts:

SirChenjin · 18/12/2013 10:12

DD (14) reads FB for the local news and DS1(16) reads Youtube for the international news

bigTillyMintspie · 18/12/2013 10:14

DD used to avidly read the Sunday papers, but now listens to radio/reads Yahoo, etc.
DS catches the odd snippet on TV and sometimes reads the sports pages.

DorrisM · 18/12/2013 10:20

We don't tend to buy the newspapers, but have radio 4 on all day so all dc's hear what's going on. DH and I are into current affairs and politics so we often discuss what's going on in the world and the children take an interest. DD1 14 was saying recently that she's shocked by how unaware a lot of her peers are. I think different families have different 'specialisms', we don't do sporty but we do arty and politics.

Fooso · 18/12/2013 10:56

I also worry that my DSD who is 15 has no idea about what's going on.... she has no interest whatsoever... I think it's just the world they live in now - we had to watch the news when we were younger as there were only 3 channels!

Fooso · 18/12/2013 10:58

I would add if my partner buys the sun - she will flick to the Dear Deirdre problem page

Original poster

purpleroses · 18/12/2013 11:38

I'm not quite sure the Dear Deirdre problem page quite counts as reading the news though Fooso

OP posts:

Sparklingbrook · 18/12/2013 11:41

Yes and no. He reads The Sun every day. From the back to the front.
He also devours the local paper.

olivevoir58 · 18/12/2013 13:05

The big news stories get passed around very quickly via social media. My 16 year old woke me up to tell me Nelson Mandella had died as it was buzzing around FB (though she did ask me a couple of days later with he was from the UK or America :/ )

DandyDan · 21/12/2013 08:34

Most of our children read our national daily newspaper ("broadsheet") and also watch the news at least once a day. They also follow the news via BBC News updates, and follow the Al-Jazeera feed for foreign news.

Mattissy · 21/12/2013 08:53

Mine are 12 & 8 and are usually happy enough to watch the news and discuss the bigger stories of the day but that isn't every day, probably once or twice a week.

madeofkent · 21/12/2013 14:21

Mine do and always have done, probably because I am more likely to put the tv on for news than any other reason, we are not a great tv watching family, too many other hobbies. DS has just strrted at Uni and he often posts snippets of news on fb that have intrigued or shocked him, much to the bemusement of his peers who are more likely to post selfies or links to 'vines'.

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