My Expressions

The other day my seven- year- old asked me about the budget. She had heard the term a couple of times on the news. But was struggling to understand why people were so ardently talking about it. And that’s when I realized how badly there was a need for a newspaper or website on current news for students or current affairs website for children alone. We need current affairs websites for kids to keep them updated with what’s happening around the world.

The Questioning conundrum

However, the real need for newspapers or current affairs websites for kids is to answer their innumerable questions. Have you ever tried sitting through the news with your kid? Let me tell you this. After the news anchor blares in the news, your child consequently starts a whole tirade of questions. Is it wrong to sit on the road? Why are they are shouting and what is Parliament? Why did he order to throw a bomb? At any rate, you get the drift, I am sure.

And so, on one hand, I feel elated that my kid is listening and learning to question. On the other, I am a little skeptical for two reasons. First, I am concerned whether the questions are in context to news or information that he is watching. Is the language, concepts and explanations for his age? Second, whether the questions are actually in fact, appropriate and value ridden?

Difference between ‘news’ and a current affairs website for kids

So does normal current affairs news work best for our children? There are two distinct premises to consider here. One on hand, it’s about the language and style of reporting. Do we really think that children are able to grasp the nuances and details of the adult news? And perhaps this is the foremost reason why we need current affairs websites for kids.

The other, however, is about the news itself. What kind of values or understanding are we imparting to our children if the information that they are receiving is devoid of these? Is the reporting leading to a completely new line of questioning that justifies violence and ill-treatment? And frankly let’s get real. The way news and opinions are told today, it is more of just shouting out the ‘perceived truth’ rather than investigating or questioning the ‘real truth’.

Can current affairs news confuse and misguide questioning kids?

The current news has increasingly become violent, degrading and negative. I cannot imagine having my child skimp through the television or newspaper without reading about death or derogatory comment. Or hurled with complicated information, which sometimes may even be half baked or half true. Thus are one-sided, sensational and badly researched news confusing children more? What if in this confusion, they start questioning concepts of rights and equality? What if they begin to question the roles of good over evil or right over wrong? Worse, what if they submit to all information without critically thinking or forming an opinion of their own?

Can current affairs website for kids increase ‘goodness’ related questions?

Of course, there are good things happening in the world. But they are rarely told as news, especially to children in order to strengthen their morals or conscious. And I hope that children ask questions that stir the goodness within them. Like how did she win the medal or how does the teacher teach poor children under a flyover? Or better, what can I do to save an endangered species or where can I find more books by a particular author? Best would be if they resolve to solve some global issues and start studying in that direction.

Why do we need a current affairs website for kids?

One may argue that it is not only the news but almost everything on social media. True, but just like we have learning videos for children do we also have current event websites for kids? Thus, we need specialized media for current news for students. A place where the world news, current affairs are accurate and age-specific. Additionally, we also need this platform to allow children to communicate their opinion and creative abilities. Thus there is a need for curated newspaper or current affairs websites for kids that direct their questioning of the affairs in the right direction. Basically, a current affairs website for kids where I am not worried regarding the kind of questions my child might end up asking.

Knowing how to question

I love it when kids learn to question. Not only the early childhood years of incessant questioning. But the years that lead up to adulthood too. The healthy questioning of concepts and ideas. Questioning current events that spew hatred and inequality. Above all, questioning maligned intentions and unlawful activities. And therefore, the way news, current affairs and information reach our kids is vital. Ideally, news should be told to kids in an honest, unbiased, unadulterated, yet friendly age-appropriate, easy to understand manner.

Fortunately, a current affairs website for kids which also gives a whole range of additional general knowledge information does exist. I came across Curious Times, a wonderful online news website for current news for students and children. And I found it perfect, just as its name, to instill curiosity and to nurture a questioning mind.

Finally, as I try to explain the budget simply as I can, I hope that the questioning doesn’t cease. As a generation, we need to work on creating young minds that are not afraid to question. We definitely do not wish to create a rebelliously outlandish next generation. But we do owe it to them to present facts and news as they are. To help them acquire and internalize the whole range of topics, subjects and information that touches them through both online and offline mediums. Maybe it’s a current affairs website for kids or a newspaper on current news for students. Or maybe it’s through a bedtime story or a conversation. We owe it to our children to help them understand and correctly question all things around them.

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