I think avoiding the news with our kids (I'm not talking exposing little kids to disturbing images, topics, etc.) means we lose out on a great opportunity to teach our kids to be analytical and skeptical about the motives behind what is presented. That is one of the most powerful tools we can teach our kids - whether it's seeing the bias in a news story, a sales tactic or friends trying to convince our kid to do something.
Could not agree more.
I'll add that one of my kids' biggest frustrations with their classmates is how uninterested and/or uninformed they are about current events and the world in general. While some of that can certainly be attributed to typical age-related myopia, it certainly limits any meaningful discussions they might have at school.
