EP9 – Watch The News With Your Kids?

Hello and welcome to this episode of, I don't know, Jack about parenting. On today's episode, we are going to be talking about why you should watch the news every single night with your kids.

See, here's the deal

Hey, let's just jump right into it. Of course we should be watching the news. The news is full with world events. Talk about business. You can talk about some amazing things that are happening as far as philanthropic things that are going on. I will say that word a little wrong. Maybe I should look that up. But, um, you know, charity events and things that are going on in the world, marathon, sporting events, you name it, it's going on, but it also has things like politics, murder, drugs, and I say you should be watching the news with your children, but I say that a little tongue in cheek. See, here's the deal, what children need, the very first need besides shelter, food and clothing that kids need, is just to feel safe.

And the best way to create safety for children is creating a sense of certainty by creating routines and things of that nature.

So as I make this podcast what's going on in the news right now, which is something that we don't typically watch in my household, but it's going on in politics is going on. The race for governor in all the states is going on and I live in the south and Florida and Georgia are up in the air right now.

Kids need certainty

See, kids need certainty. Kids need comfort to feel as though they are safe. And in a world where we have grown adults accusing other grown adults for cheating and lying and stealing and fraud and demanding recounts when they've lost something... we wonder why it is that our children go out and they're like, oh, can I get a do over? Because our politicians are asking for do overs or they're playing victim. Like the only reason I lost today's game is because they cheated. I wonder where they're getting that information.

Then the other thing is children really do not need to be watching the news because it creates a greater sense of uncertainty and non-safety because there are kids getting shot. There are kids going missing. There are people OD-ing on drugs, there are drug cartels, there's mass shootings, there's fires, there's disasters, there's hurricanes, and all of this is sensationalized. They're not just reporting what's going on. It's sensationalized on the news as if it's the only thing going on in the world.

We turned it into a lesson

For instance, not too long ago in the background, my wife decided to put on the news for some unknown reason in the evening. My seven year old hear's that there's a little boy gone missing from a park and he hadn't been found in multiple days and he said, well, where? Where is he? Why haven't they found him? What's going on? Will you ever lose me for a couple of days. No, we'll never lose you. We turned it into a lesson and saying, listen, but you can't just walk away, right? Mommy and daddy don't want to lose you. Because he's at a tendency to go wandering away for 20 seconds. We say, hey, where are you going?

And I said, that kid wandered away a little too far. Nobody's been able to find him. I couldn't share with him that somebody stole this kid. That somebody kidnapped this child because I don't want him thinking he can't go to a park. But that's what happens when we watch the news. Children need to feel safe and no wonder there's an epidemic of children who can't sleep in this country... who deal with anxiety on a high level. Now, if they deal with anxiety, uh, you know, for whatever reason, it's one thing, but do we need to be introducing our children to what the world sensationalizes because they get ratings this way. If somebody in the feed below or in the responses can tell me one good reason a child needs to watch the news... And I say, children, I'm talking 10 and under... one good reason why they need not want or you want them to or what you want them to be exposed to.

Y'all know who I'm talking about

They need to watch the news. Please. I would love to hear it, but there is no good reason in my opinion right now, but I'm open to hearing other opinions. Why a child needs to be exposed to what what the newsstations believe will get them ratings and they do get them ratings. I do not believe in teaching my children to behave like grown adults who are leading this country. Y'all know who I'm talking about, who are running these political races and slandering each other and not being very nice, not being good sportsmen by saying, Hey, listen, you won the race. Go out there and do the best to your ability. I know, although we have different views, you still have to run this state, this country and you are now my governor and I respect you for having run a clean campaign and brought it to the next one.

They can't do that because nobody runs a clean campaign. They can't sit there and concede it because they assume the other one's cheating and I really don't want my kid to do that. Here's one last point. Off the news a little bit, but this just happened in a conversation on the way to school. My son gets points for being good at school, but it's no different than what's going on in the governor's race. They have an APP. Every time they do well, they get incentivized. They get an opportunity to go to go see a movie one day if they get a certain amount of points over a certain amount of time, and here's my son being super well behaved because he wants his reward and he says, Dad, I got to get 25 points in order to to get the opportunity to go see the movie. But last time, even kids who had one point, we're able to go. He says this is not fair. So here I'm teaching my son about hard work and putting in energy and effort in being well behaved so that he can be rewarded for those types of things, but yet every child is being rewarded whether they're good or not.

What I'm teaching them is sportsmanship

How am I supposed to explain that to my seven year old? That in this household is how it works, but the real world, everyone gets rewarded just for showing up. How am I supposed to explain to my seven year old and and I do. Don't get me wrong. Maybe there'll be another episode that in the real world you're supposed to. What I'm teaching them is sportsmanship. You're supposed to say good game and shake the other person's hand when you lose fair and square when in a governor's race, the highest level of government in the state for people who are running against each other are accusing each other of cheating and are demanding a recount. Now it had to remaining that votes that are illegal or allowed to be counted.

So, so my son and I are maybe watching a football game and he goes, listen, that guy just illegally hit the other guy and why doesn't he just get those touchdown points? Because he should've gotten them anyway. Well, because it wasn't within the rules. Yeah, but the governor's race, those ballots weren't within the rules so. But they wanted to count those ballots. What's the difference here dad? What? People don't understand that there are rules for a reason. Rules are meant to be enforced and if our potential governor doesn't understand that, why would I want this person in office? I don't and that's why I'm glad that she lost, but that's to be determined because she wants to bring in votes that were cast and votes from illegal aliens and votes from this and votes from that. And and they, the last I heard there's 26,000 uncounted votes and they're 21,000 behind and there's a 51 slash 49 split percentage wise. Let me ask you this question. If it's a 51 slash 49 across the board, you really think that you're going to get 80 percent of those 26,000 that haven't been counted yet in less. Somehow you fixed it yourself.

Whatever is sensationalized on the news is our new truth

You know, if you want your kids to fail and not really understand values in life, I suggest you turn on the evening news. As a matter of fact. If you want your kids to not have integrity, not, not be taught the right way to treat each other poorly, I highly suggest not only do you watch the evening news, but you put it on first thing in the morning before they go to school. Say, because this is what the world is coming to. Whatever is sensationalized on the news is our new truth, and then everybody's wondering why this country, people don't understand values because poor values or lack of values is what is portrayed across our airwaves. Each and every single day in our children are seeing it hundreds, if not thousands of times a day, no matter how much we reinforce it at home.

If you allow them to watch that crap, the stronger energy, that constant energy, the boob tube, the youtube, the twitter, the instagram, the facebook. If you allow them to consume that garbage, garbage in garbage out. So if you want your children to be garbage, start with the news and then go to all of the other social medias. Hey, this is Ryan Roy with I don't know Jack about parenting, but I do know this. If you want your kid to be garbage, garbage in, garbage out, go and watch the news.