This year is off to a violent start in the region, and with a recent shooting at a St. Charles Chuck E. Cheese, even children’s birthday parties have ended in bloodshed.
Violence in the news can deeply affect children, and parents should try to protect very young kids from overhearing news they just aren’t capable of comprehending, says Dr. Diane Levin, professor of education at Boston’s Wheelock College.
“There is always violent stuff in the news, so kids are exposed to it a great deal and adults don’t think about it a lot unless it’s right in their community or it’s some major national or international event,” she explains. “It just becomes background noise.”
Screens and 24-hour news are ubiquitous in today’s world, though, and kids may hear about violent news events from friends at school or while watching TV. Parents, teachers, and other trusted adults should be prepared to talk about what kids see and hear.
It’s important not to be dismissive of kids’ questions and concerns about violent news events, even if the city’s murder rate or area protests are the last thing parents want to discuss over dinner. Levin, author of books including Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood: Teaching Young Children in the Media Age, suggests asking children what they might have heard about an event rather than providing our own summaries.
“Then, I would take the lead from the child,” she says. “You want to know what the child will say before you respond.”
Taking the cues from kids makes us better able to clear up misconceptions they may have without providing them with more detail than they want or need. With older children—perhaps around 8 or 9—adults may want to read, watch, or listen to updates about important events together, being careful to select news outlets that don’t favor sensationalism or shocking images. Older kids are able to have more logical conversations, process facts, and—like adults—even understand that bad things happen sometimes, but that shouldn’t make us afraid of the world.
“We realize at some point as adults, parents, and teachers that we can’t make everything totally safe,” Levin says. “But I think the thing that makes kids feel safest is knowing that we are there for them to talk to.”
Charlene Oldham is a freelance writer and teacher who lives in Crestwood.
