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Most Australian school children will have heard the classic Dorothea MacKellar poem that vividly paints their country as a land of natural extremes, the “beauty and terror” that can result in tragedy for those directly affected by natural disasters.

With the recent floods and bushfires impacting on many families, those poetic images have been brought much closer to home for many more kids, straight into their immediate living spaces via modern technology.

The dramatic and graphic media coverage of the effect of bushfires on the built and natural environments and the communities who live there is distressing for many adults. We witness the drama unfold and listen to the harrowing tales of the survivors and then feel the horror as the graphic, macabre devastation is revealed.

Media coverage of the bushfires and other ‘dangers’ can also make it more ‘real’ for children, even though most are nowhere near the crisis. This is especially so when media coverage is intense and graphic footage is frequently repeated to fill gaps in the coverage.

Kids don’t have the same sensory filtering and reasoning mechanisms as adults and are vulnerable to feeling anxious and upset about traumatic events. When they are repeatedly exposed to disturbing events reality can skew and apprehension can become miss-apprehension.

Kids also may become fearful if events are shown in settings with which they are familiar, such as homes and families, or children and animals. It puts a strain on their sense of safety and security because at a young age, they are unable to understand the concept of probability.

As Young Media Australia points out, “very young children are particularly vulnerable to scary visual images, and when certain footage is repeated many times, they are likely to think the event is actually happening over and over again. Older children will be upset by the fact that the people affected look just like them and their families. Stories of children being injured or separated from their parents, the death of family pets and interviews with emotionally distraught or shocked adults and children can make their world feel more unsafe than it really is.”

Adults have a vital role in supporting kids to deal with the physical, psychological and emotional reactions to what they see and hear in their homes. They can provide prompt and accurate information about what has happened, and to understand and reassure kids that what they see on the television is not going to happen to them.

Parents appreciate understanding the role that media plays in the development of their children. There are also a few basic guidelines that can be incorporated into children’s daily media consumption such as age appropriateness of the news children are allowed to see and watching the “news” with them.

As a parent you then know exactly what they are being exposed to and can talk and share feelings about what you both see, letting kids know the difference between news and reality and acknowledging children’s responses.

Gillian Calvert
NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People

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