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Disaster Images on TV: Should Your Children Watch?

Summary & Participants

It is virtually impossible to shelter young children from images of September 11. A child psychiatrist comments on how much TV should you let your kids watch?

Medically Reviewed On: May 11, 2006

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: It is virtually impossible to shelter young children from the reality of what has happened. But that doesn't mean they have to experience repeatedly the images of disaster and personal loss. So how much should you let your kids watch? And how can you help them deal with what they do see?

HAROLD KOPLEWICZ, MD: The television has really become a new way of experiencing this type of tragedy. This is a catastrophic, extraordinary, historic event. And for us who live here in New York, we live with it in a different way than the rest of the country.

But because of the images on television New York is in everybody's back yard. Everyone can feel it. And it's very important that parents eliminate or limit television watching. For children under the age of five, don't permit them to watch these television programs.

Because watching a plane go into building again and again and again can be very confusing for these children. They can think of these as different events and on top of that watching people out of control, crying, being hysterical, this can be very traumatizing for kids.

ANNOUNCER: In addition to limiting television exposure, there are several steps parents can take to comfort their children and offer them a sense of security.

HAROLD KOPLEWICZ, MD: I think the first thing parents have to do is talk to their kids about what they know and what they're thinking. Because it's really quite important for us to understand the kind of personality that a child has and also the information they've been receiving. Particularly the different age kids. So we can expect younger children under the age of 5 to know very little but the little bit that they do know might be very confusing, so it's important for parents to tell their kids what's going on in a way that they can understand: the good guys, the bad guys, and we're going to go get these bad guys, and more importantly that we're going to have safer airplanes, that we have a strong government, that it's going to take care of us.

ANNOUNCER: No matter how young your children are, there is a possibility that they will show signs of distress in response to this tragedy. But it's important to determine which responses are appropriate and when to seek advice.

HAROLD KOPLEWICZ, MD: If a parent who knows their child is concerned, that for more than 2 weeks their child isn't sleeping well, or their child is more isolated or their child is more hyper, or the child is just not acting like themselves, that's a good time to reach out to your pediatrician for the first line of attack. And if the pediatrician can't be helpful then going to see a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist or child psychologist would be a good place to get the kind of evaluation to be sure that what you're seeing is just a transitory or a temporary set of symptoms not something more serious in need of treatment.