Is the News PG?

The news is reporting of current affairs and events. I remember when I was in school we were encouraged to watch the news and read the newspaper. We were told it would improve our general knowledge and keep us up to date with current affairs.

However, along with sporting news, business updates, political changes, weather & climate, info columns and other such latest information the news is filled with several morbid stories as well. Debayon's question 'What is sodomizing' made me realize that so much covered in news nowadays maybe inappropriate for young children. (Sorry, Deb – the most recent example I could think off).

The news includes gory stories about war, murder, rape, abuse etc too. In recent times news media have been come under serious criticism for broadcasting or publishing graphic stories – like showing brutal deaths of soldiers in war, showing severely bruised and battered victims of abuse etc, covering shock stories about abuse/rape etc. On the internet it is even more open with several sites having shown uncensored images of the Abu Gharib abuse or the full video of Daniel Pearl's decapitation. Bloggers and non syndicated sites tend to include a lot of detail than the regular news and information sites.

Is the news really PG, or does it become more mature by the day?

Should there be any censorship of the news, perhaps for daytime broadcasts – or should news be reporting of fact whatever it be?

Can we still encourage children to follow news or is this more for teenage and older?

Those who are parents or have young siblings/relatives etc – Do you watch news around kids or wait till they are away? Do you keep newspapers and magazines away from young ones? How have you/would you react when graphic news like violent gore/violent rape or abuse is discussed? Have you had children ask you questions like what is sodomy/homosexuality/child molestation etc and how have you/would you answer? Do you worry about news sites/blogs that may carry graphic pictures and videos and slip through net filters?

As a kid or even now, have you come across news that is difficult to stomach? How do you react? If you came across news about things that you did not understand etc would you ask questions to peers/ask your parents/look it up yourself? Were you able to digest the explanations well or did it leave you disturbed?

As always please remember that COC applies to all debates. Please conduct the debate in a mature manner.

Originally posted by: finicky2010

You can restrict the exposure but can't eliminate it as there are kids with whom your child is friends with, whose parents are not supervising. Questions will come but not always, sometimes you will just hear the comments , you need to catch the opportunity to teach.

When I was young, my parents caught every opportunity to teach me. I don't remember they ever said that this is right or wrong, they always let me use my judgement. They were there to listen attentively, about my friends, about my world. They never answered for me but helped in the best possible way to let me come up with my own answer.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

Just to add in regards of this discussion - did your parents restrict exposure to news. Could you share any instances where parents used disturbing news content as an opportunity to teach?

Originally posted by: debayon

I have heard a story which I'd like to share with all:
There was kid who was curious about sex. He asked his mom but his mom was hesitant and said that he'll learn in due time. But the boy was still curious. So he Google it and finds bunch of po*n sites. He goes and looks at the videos. Now the question is: Was that right? Is the info about sex being gathered in a clean and positive way? I think parents should be open with their children. My parents always talk to me openly about sex, drugs and so on. I don't see the harm. In fact it's harmf if we aren't aware of all this.

Originally posted by: gengarjetty2

yup altho po*n deals with pleasure more than sex education, if the curiosity was answered to then the former would not even arise.