I stopped watching the local news shortly after we returned to South Florida. Hubby still sometimes watches and it’s just a run down of horrible things: double shooting, armed robbery, fatal shooting, fatal car accident, hit and run, animal cruelty, a child dies at daycare. I don’t want to see it.
I still often watch the national news because I want to know what is going on in the world, but I don’t need to see all the horrible things going on in my community. I know it’s there, I know it’s unfortunately not going away any time soon so instead I focus my attention on my family, raising smart, healthy and happy children, trying to make a difference at home.
Many people would probably consider me over protective. I don’t let my kids watch a lot of TV, play around on the internet or play videos games (I am very strict on screen time!). And it often causes arguments between the girls and I.
One such argument occurred a few weeks ago when I sent Honeybun to play while I was watching the news. The stories about Isis and journalists being beheaded were too much for her.
When I sent her away that day, I looked her in the eyes and said to her: “You are only six. You are still so little and once you see and know these things about the world, you can’t give them back. They will be with you forever, they will change who you are. They will replace little parts of your childhood and innocence and I don’t want that for you. You don’t need the problems of the world on your shoulders. You need to play, explore, learn and have fun. You have plenty of time to grow up and learn all the nasty things that are in our world, you don’t need them in your head just yet.”
She knows a lot about the world. She can tell you who Hitler was and why Jesus was crucified but those are historical, almost hypothetical, occurrences. They aren’t “real” life, they’re not in our world.
I’ve always been very truthful with my children but I also don’t want them to fear their world. I want them to feel safe and be happy. I want them to know they will be protected and taken care of. I don’t want them to be afraid of all the bad things that are in the world because, luckily, most of those things are far, far away and while they are concerning to us adults, I don’t want them clouding my children’s innocence.
Our children will grow up before our eyes, before we are ready. They will experience things leaps and bounds ahead of what we did, it’s just the nature of the world we live in now. But I promise you, I will do everything I can, as long as I can to keep them innocent. To keep the hate and horrible out of their eyes and ears. I will teach them love and tolerance and when it is time, talk to them truthfully about why people make the choices they do. But for now, we will chase butterflies and draw rainbows on the sidewalk because THAT is the world all children deserve to live in.
What a great post! And a great message. Sometimes I feel parents don’t censor the world enough for their young children. My girls are older than yours and it’s hard to keep them innocent, but I think I’m doing okay at it. Thanks for sharing – it’s good to hear there are others out there who don’t want their kids growing up too fast! :)
I’m just hoping that by keeping their eyes focused on the good and beautiful things in the world, it will create hope and kindness in their hearts which they will carry with them through life. I really just want them to be able to see past all the ugly and hatefulness in our world! (am I being a little overly ambitious here?!)