Raising informed citizens
April 25, 2017 11:34 AM Subscribe
No newspapers and no television - how do you expose your kids to current events?
I have young children and recently saw an interview with Chelsea Clinton where she talked about reading the newspaper headlines to her children. I read all my media online and grew up with print newspapers and my parents watching the 6 o'clock news, and now realize I need to have conversations about what's going on in the world with them (I'm in denial myself). My local newspaper is okay (I subscribe to the e-edition, just to support my local print journalism), but I don't really want all the fluff pieces and the sheer amount of paper. I'd prefer a more global, analytical view (the atlantic for kids?) and would love recommendations for kid-appropriate media, maybe podcasts?
I have young children and recently saw an interview with Chelsea Clinton where she talked about reading the newspaper headlines to her children. I read all my media online and grew up with print newspapers and my parents watching the 6 o'clock news, and now realize I need to have conversations about what's going on in the world with them (I'm in denial myself). My local newspaper is okay (I subscribe to the e-edition, just to support my local print journalism), but I don't really want all the fluff pieces and the sheer amount of paper. I'd prefer a more global, analytical view (the atlantic for kids?) and would love recommendations for kid-appropriate media, maybe podcasts?
I recently heard someone recommend "The Week" magazine for this purpose - she specifically mentioned that everyone in her household enjoys it including her young teenagers. I haven't really read it, but my parents and brothers say they enjoy it as well.
Seems less overwhelming than a daily newspaper but still allows for casual browsing.
posted by vunder at 12:12 PM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
Seems less overwhelming than a daily newspaper but still allows for casual browsing.
posted by vunder at 12:12 PM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
Best answer: We take our kids to meetings of the neighborhood Democratic Club. They hear discussion of current events and see the (occasionally painful) deliberative process up close. We value that, since they've been growing up in an era that has a tendency to equate clicking a button with taking a complete action or having one's voice heard.
Honestly, your kids might see more headlines than you did at their age (if they're old enough for social media, especially). I worry less about making sure our kids see headlines than I do about making sure to talk to them when they bring up some news story. They often have very, very stilted views given their reliance on or trust of their similarly-aged peers, so we play the Diligent Ear. For instance, this weekend the middle kid started talking about how he doesn't think Assad would use chemical weapons on his own. That's a bit of a weird claim for a teen to make, so we talked to him about where and how he heard this, the current events as we understand them, the signs of conspiratorial thinking, and so on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Honestly, your kids might see more headlines than you did at their age (if they're old enough for social media, especially). I worry less about making sure our kids see headlines than I do about making sure to talk to them when they bring up some news story. They often have very, very stilted views given their reliance on or trust of their similarly-aged peers, so we play the Diligent Ear. For instance, this weekend the middle kid started talking about how he doesn't think Assad would use chemical weapons on his own. That's a bit of a weird claim for a teen to make, so we talked to him about where and how he heard this, the current events as we understand them, the signs of conspiratorial thinking, and so on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Ages 4 & 8, the 3rd grader uses Newsela at school...
posted by threesquare at 12:47 PM on April 25, 2017
posted by threesquare at 12:47 PM on April 25, 2017
Many elementary schools subscribe to newspapers or weekly magazines. My mom's school gets Time for Kids for instance. Starting in 4th grade we were assigned occasional "current events" homework where we picked an article from the paper and answered questions about it.
My 4yo has zero knowledge of what's going on in the world and I'm not in a rush to change that. The other day she asked me what "politics" means and I had a quiet little panic attack. Your kids have their whole lives to freak out about current affairs. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping them feeling safe and unworried until you don't have that option anymore.
posted by potrzebie at 1:00 PM on April 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
My 4yo has zero knowledge of what's going on in the world and I'm not in a rush to change that. The other day she asked me what "politics" means and I had a quiet little panic attack. Your kids have their whole lives to freak out about current affairs. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping them feeling safe and unworried until you don't have that option anymore.
posted by potrzebie at 1:00 PM on April 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Well, with my 7 and 10 year old, reading the daily morning newspaper with breakfast one of the ways they get a lot of their news. The second is CBC radio, which is on all the time at our house. Is there a decent radio station you can play in the morning where you live? Otherwise, a live stream of BBC something like that would give a good world perspective. I used to subscribe to the Guardian Weekly, which gives a very good round-up of weekly events and is a lot less paper than a daily newspaper.
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:08 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:08 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wikitribune is not up and running yet with content but looks promising.
posted by beagle at 2:51 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by beagle at 2:51 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
We also have CBC radio on pretty much all the time. News and current events and cultural analysis is just in the air at our house. It's part of regular dinner conversation. It's not that we deliberately arranged things so our son would have that sort of awareness. He has just picked it up because that's what his parents are into.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 4:04 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 4:04 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Australian TV has a specific news show for kids (BTN: Behind the News) which might be an interesting addition?
posted by geek anachronism at 5:49 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by geek anachronism at 5:49 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
When I was a kid, my family would eat dinner together every night. Often public radio was on, I recall a lot of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. But more often, my dad had printed out some op-eds from the NY Times, which any one of us would read aloud and then we'd all discuss. I have very fond memories of this... more so, I think, than just listening to NPR, which we also did.
posted by switcheroo at 7:38 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by switcheroo at 7:38 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Captain_Science at 11:51 AM on April 25, 2017 [6 favorites]