x-no-archive:yes Spiralmoons wrote:


I have read on here a few times that there are parents who don't watch the
news while their kids are in the room. Can I ask why? I have no formed
opinion on it and now that my ds is of the age (5) where he watches things
and can relate them to his life, I wonder if our house should do the same
(not watch news in front of the kids). Then again I don't want him to be
totally ignorant of current events, or is he too young to be exposed to the
awful things that can happen. So, again, can someone explain why they do
this or why they don't? So I can make a good decision before I start staying
up 'till 11:00!
Maybe I should just subscribe to the paper again! LOL!

When I was growing up there wasn't TV and my mom would not let me
listen to scarey radio programs because she thought it would give me
nightmares. We didn't watch TV news much when my kids were growing up
because we were usually eating dinner (at the table with the TV off)
when the news was on. Now I see my grand kids watching TV all the
time without a problem.

I myself avoid watching the news on TV as much as possible. I did not
watch the 9-11 events but once or twice. I turned off all those
broadcasts about the Gulf War. Once something has repeated unless I
didn't 'get it' the first time, I turn to another channel. (There's
always something else on or else I turn the TV off) I don't listen to
the national news on the TV - only local. The way local news
broadcasts are now, I get plenty of what I need to know (more in some
cases), especially living near D.C.

We do get the daily and local paper, and I read the sections that I'm
interested in and discard the rest unread.

AFAI am concerned the only real important news is the weather. And
even that can be overdone - after 5 hours of coverage of a blizzard or
some weather event, it's more than enough. I listen to the local news
on FOX in the morning and at 10. When I was working, we woke up to
the clock radio which had news weather and traffic and that was what
we needed then.

But I think it only fair to mention that I don't go to the movies or
rent video tapes or look at soap operas or read much fiction or listen
to call in shows on the radio either. It is just too emotionally
stressful for me. I listen to the local news because some of it is
local - local oil spills, local traffic delays, local political issues
etc., and especially local weather is of importance to me.

grandma Rosalie