Stories to Grow By 

January 2023 Newsletter

In this edition: Stories to Grow By highlights discussing news with children, and showcases the story "The Girl and the Chenoo Monster".

Discussing Challenging News Stories With Children

Stories that bombard us in the news have an impact on children.

As we enter 2023, tough headlines and alarming news stories continue to get served to us everyday. While these stories may have their own impact on adults, it also can have a negative impact on children.

Kids are surrounded by news that is often scary-sounding. They see headlines, overhear snippets on the radio, TV, on TikTok, other social media platforms, etc. Sometimes, and more often then not, they hear about news events and discuss them with other kids.

Very often articles can be formidable for kids because news produced for adults typically leaves out information that may be reassuring because it is “understood.” Adults tend to already know that information so it’s often not included in the news article. Kids, however, need to be reassured.

The fact that the news is all around kids today–as we walk to school, on their devices, on the TV and radio–is one of the reasons Teaching Kids News (TKN) was founded. Even if they don’t understand it, it can be scary and confusing.

TKN bring the news to kids, but make it safe, understandable and kid-friendly. We highly recommend reviewing their guide to talking about challenging news topics with children.