On Saturday morning, our daughters beg for the news with Dawna Friesen the way some kids might beg for cartoons. (This is probably because, lacking a TV in our house, they don’t even know about Saturday morning cartoons.)
They tumble downstairs in their pjs and hunker down in front of the computer, asking to watch the news. Hubby and I have enjoyed and encouraged this, but … we’ve found ourselves becoming on edge with each newscast, unsure if the topics or images will be too disturbing for young children. Hubby has had to regularly skip stories (sometimes more than one in a newscast) containing disturbing content: videos of gunfire; dead bodies; graphic car accidents involving toddlers.
Today we discovered CNN Student News, and we think this may be the solution to our Saturday morning dilemma. We watched a 10-minute, commercial-free segment and were impressed. The newscasting and journalism were professionally done. The segment included a top international story, some youth-interest American stories, and a just-for-fun story at the end. None of the stories were selected for their scandal value.
The international story was particularly impressive, providing reaction from international leaders and an understandable backstory.
The storytelling was excellent, and it was accomplished without the disturbing content we’ve noticed in mainstream news. The video clips, for example, didn’t highlight gunfire in action or dead bodies. (Gunfire was later portrayed using still photos.) Opinion interviews in this newscast were conducted with articulate teens.
When I checked out the rest of the site, I saw that there were related maps available for me to download and, should I be so inclined, discussion questions. Did I mention that this is all completely ad-free?
I’m delighted to have found this. However, I am a bit sad that Canada doesn’t produce something comparable for our students. Or that our mainstream news can’t provide us with information without inundating us with graphic images that no one needs to see.
. (As an aside, this is a wonderful book for children and adults who want to learn about common insects.) One of the included projects, titled “Capture a ‘Bear’ for the Winter,” directs young naturalists in capturing a wooly bear caterpillar and keeping it over the winter. We’ve all been intrigued with the idea that we might be able to watch a caterpillar hibernate, spin a cocoon, and then emerge as a moth.
