News broadcasts often talk about cruelty, show frightening events. But even such stories can be an occasion to start an important conversation with a child, says Elena Morozova, a child psychologist. Therefore, it is better to watch the news together.
Natural disasters, catastrophes, scenes of violence… Can these frightening pictures hurt a child? “You shouldn’t ban it hard: bans only fuel children’s curiosity,” reminds Elena Morozova. – And yet, try to protect a child under 7-8 years old from tragic plots, because it is still difficult for him to realize the boundary between what he sees on the screen and his own life. His experiences can be very painful. And at school age, it is impossible and unnecessary to protect children from the flow of negative information that news releases carry: they need impulses to develop and comprehend the reality in which they will live. But the task of parents is to be there at this moment, to see the reaction of the child, to answer his questions, to express his opinion. By exchanging impressions, adults show him that it is completely normal to be excited, hurt by something and not be shy to admit it. And that fears are easier to deal with when you talk about them out loud. Besides in the discussion, children learn to determine their attitude to what is happening, to be aware of their position.
Sometimes a child reacts to news that disturbs adults in a completely different way: for example, he may be more shocked by a toy thrown into a landfill than by a shooting tank. “Browsing together allows us to discover the difference in our reactions to the same events and better understand each other,” emphasizes the child psychologist. Finally, parents and children, living through strong moments together, become more united, emotionally closer to each other. In order for the tragic news not to traumatize the child, do not turn the world into a source of threat, draw his attention to joyful events, bright discoveries, courageous behavior of people who do not lose heart in a dangerous situation, look for a way out, act. “The best way to deal with negative information is to creatively “process” it, find a way out for your feelings,” suggests Elena Morozova. “For example, draw a picture or put together a package for victims of the disaster: active steps will set the child in a constructive way.”
About it
“Modern child. Encyclopedia of Mutual Understanding, edited by Anna Varga
In the section “Family and the Environment”, psychologists Sergey Enikolopov and Elena Smirnova talk in detail about how children of different ages perceive television programs with elements of aggression and violence (OGI, 2006).
Read also: “TEENS Territory: A guide for parents of teenagers.”
* Foreword to Self-Assisted Moms, part of the Clever/Psychologies collaborative series Making Our Children Happy (Clever, 2012).