Tell me what you think, reading newspapers in school

[Kari_mom]

Am I too protective? Just naive?

My 10 yo daughter came home from school today with a copy of a major daily newspaper and an assignment to locate and describe stories that inform the reader, entertain the reader, etc.

It didn't sound so bad until I looked at the paper and realized that she was reading (and she is a high level reader) the kinds of stories I have been censoring. For example, a news story about Courtney Love exposing her breasts on Letterman, a story about child molestation, a murder in a nearby town.

It is not that she doesn't know that these things happen, we talk about them. I just feel like the media is so focused on the negative aspect of life that it can skew perspective. And a lot of news reporting just isn't PG, IMO. We don't have the paper delivered to our home, we never watch the news, my husband and I stay in touch with world events through the internet. All to shield our children. I don't want them to worry about bombs or hijackers or being shot by a gun.

My first response was to give her a copy of the local weekly paper to finish her assignment. This paper is mostly full of articles about the latest council meeting and who planted the flowers at the park, things like that. She was fine with it, said it was easier to read anyway and the teacher didn't care what paper they used.

Should I follow up with her teacher? How far should I take this? From what I understand, the entire fourth grade will be doing these assignments until the end of the school year. Or am I just over-reacting?

[Rhonwyn]

You are not over reacting.

I think you should talk to the teacher. 10 is too young for PG-13 movies and it is too young for many newspaper stories. I think your idea to use a local newspaper is a great idea. They are less negative and less sensational. Good luck.

[daylily]

The upper elementary school (grades 5-6) in my city gives each child a copy of the daily paper. There's no specific assignment, I think they're just hoping that the kids will get in the habit of keeping up with current events. I'm not bothered by it, but I see what you mean about all the inappropriate stories in a typical daily paper. If I were you, I'd definitely share my concerns with the teacher.

Ironically, it's our local weeklies that I need to censor. We've had a lot of sex crimes around here lately, and our weeklies go into really graphic detail.

[jannan]

i don't think 10 is too young . ds was doing those assignments in 5th grade.

[Kari_mom]

Thanks for your replies. I think I am going to talk to the teacher and focus on how she handles the less appropriate topics in class. I can talk to my daughter and help her ignore these stories, but I am sure there are kids who are making the most of them for the attention.

I am also going to try to get copies of the local weekly paper for the class to use in their assignments.

[EFmom]

I would actually like that kind of assignment for my kids. I think it could help to instill the importance of reading the news, something that is far too lacking. I wouldn't censor access to newspapers for a 10 year old.

[Rhonwyn]

Goes to show we are all different.

I would most likely censor a paper for a 10 year old. Not until 13 or so would I think it appropriate. Every kid is different, but I don't want mine to grow up too fast. There is time enough later for news of the world.