[ladbroke]

Meh you can't stop kids form being exposed to swear words and it's not as if the BBC goes in to explicit detail on any of their reports on Radio 1 is it?

No it's not graphic detail, but try explaining to a 6 year what rape is.........

[Yudster]

Meh you can't stop kids form being exposed to swear words and it's not as if the BBC goes in to explicit detail on any of their reports on Radio 1 is it?

No it's not graphic detail, but try explaining to a 6 year what rape is.........

It's not an easy thing to do, but it is important - and it is possible to do it without ruining your kid's lives. It just takes care, effort, consistency and open communication. So you have to do it when they're young, because by the time they're 11 all that has gone!

Seriously though, I don't "censor" stuff my kids hear during the course of their normal lives, and I answer all questions with honesty and a level of detail appropriate to their age. Sometimes I will even pre-empt their questions and explain something they've heard but not asked about, as sometimes what they make of things themselves can be a lot more scary and troubling for them than the truthful explanation I would give them.

There's no right or wrong about this though, each child is different, each parent is different and each family situation is different. What's appropriate for one might not be for others.

[ladbroke]

Meh you can't stop kids form being exposed to swear words and it's not as if the BBC goes in to explicit detail on any of their reports on Radio 1 is it?

No it's not graphic detail, but try explaining to a 6 year what rape is.........

It's not an easy thing to do, but it is important - and it is possible to do it without ruining your kid's lives. It just takes care, effort, consistency and open communication. So you have to do it when they're young, because by the time they're 11 all that has gone!

Seriously though, I don't "censor" stuff my kids hear during the course of their normal lives, and I answer all questions with honesty and a level of detail appropriate to their age. Sometimes I will even pre-empt their questions and explain something they've heard but not asked about, as sometimes what they make of things themselves can be a lot more scary and troubling for them than the truthful explanation I would give them.

There's no right or wrong about this though, each child is different, each parent is different and each family situation is different. What's appropriate for one might not be for others.

I try to be as honest as possible, but I dont want him knowing about a lot of the news stories and the details involved. I want him to be a six year old and not have that innocence taken away. There comes a time when things have to be explained, but at the age of six, I see that as too young. As you say though Yudster it's the individuals choice, with no hard and fast rules. I do have the choice though-I can turn the radio down in the car when the news comes on. It's not worth getting annoyed by it, it's the news after all.

[Ezza]

I don't remember how I found out about rape or sexual assualts, I think it was from my mums magazine, like Take A Break and that. I remember finding out about murder from the Jill Dando case though. My parents never really explained anything like that to me.

[MK Chris]

I remember asking about rape and (perhaps luckily for my mum), it was at a time when I already knew where babies come from, so she said something along the lines of "you know what happens to make a baby, well it's when someone has that done to them when they don't want it."

Not that I've had the experience of parenthood, but I'd tend to be in agreement with Yudwuk.

[Boboff]

Cool, it's not just me then. I don't censor anything either but it does make me cringe when I hear it.