Exposing Your Kids to Current Events

"Parents really don't have a choice about whether or not to expose their children to current events," says Linda Ellerbee, a 25-year veteran of broadcast journalism and producer, host, and writer of NICK NEWS, a weekly children's news show on Nickelodeon, the cable network.

"It isn't a question of whether kids want to know what's going on in the world or whether you want them to know," says Ellerbee. "It's a question of whether or not kids can avoid knowing. In today's world, they can't. And they need information in a context that makes sense to them."

Ellerbee's show gives kids that information weekly, and she says her approach, summarized below, is one that parents can use when watching the news with their own kids.

1. Break down a large story into manageable pieces. "The problem with watching grown-up news is that the stories are all based on prior knowledge. A kid's show can't do that--you have to give them the background to understand what's going on. If we say something has happened since the cold war ended, we have to explain what the cold war was." Parents can help kids understand complex stories--like Bosnia--by providing this background to their kids, says Ellerbee.

2. Show both sides of stories, especially those that may appear, to children, to have an obvious solution. Ellerbee calls these the "see what you think" stories. "Take the issue of the disappearing Florida panther. It's being killed off because humans moving into the area are taking over the lands that the panther needs to survive. It's a cute panther, but if you set aside the land to save the panther, where do you put new schools and homes? What if your family were moving there?" Kids will eventually need to make such decisions, says Ellerbee, and parents can help by providing the other side of the argument (even if it is not one they support) when discussing news.

3. Show what the larger issues are. "Our story may be about how long kids should be able to wear their hair in school, but the real issue is constitutional rights," says Ellerbee. "What do you talk about with the O.J. Simpson case? You can talk about what makes a hero: Is it just someone who runs fast with a ball? You can talk about fairness: Is it possible for O.J. to get a fair trial with so much media attention?"

Although conversations about current events aren't always comfortable for parents, Ellerbee encourages them to deal with issues head-on. "If you see something on wife battering or child abuse, you should turn to your children and reassure them that this does not happen in your family, and it's not going to happen," says Ellerbee. "And when your kid turns to you and asks, 'Why is that allowed?' a parent's instinct is to pretend that we know it all, that we are wise. But the mistake is in trying to say you have all the answers. It's very important for kids to know that adults are searching for answers, too."

Teach kids that the very act of asking questions is important, says Ellerbee. "NICK NEWS isn't about trying to raise a nation of news junkies," she adds. "Sadly, most kids look at the world right now and feel totally powerless. Our stories are always looking to find somebody who is actually doing something about a problem. We want kids to grow up questioning the world around them and feeling that they have every right to change things. In fact, our motto used to be Question Authority. But that just wasn't broad enough. Now we tell kids: Question Everything. And if you want to know--ask."