By CHELSEY SELLARS

Even I have to admit, I didn’t give two kumquats about news or media throughout most of grade school. As a kid, I remember the grown-ups would shoo me away during the 7 o’clock news. Three trillion go-to-your-rooms later, my curiosity for news dwindled and died.

Studies, like those provided by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, say that letting children see or hear the news will cause a negative impact.

I concur with this statement; normal cable news is a bit ghastly for such naïve eyes. However, I don’t believe throwing a white sheet over the world events is any better.

It wasn’t until grade 8 or 9 that the white sheet was lifted for me, but what lied underneath was something new.

“CNN Student News is a 10-minute, commercial-free, daily news program for middle and high school students produced by the journalists and educators at CNN,” according to CNNStudentNews.com.

This show condenses worldly news and makes it more appealing for a younger audience. The site also provides teaching materials to compliment the news clips.

Apart from broadcast news, there are other news outlets for the young viewer. TIME For Kids is a weekly magazine geared to motivate grades K-6 to read and inform them of real-world topics. The glossy magazine is available by subscription and produced by Time magazine.

Media should continue to find ways to appeal to the children and teens in interactive and creative ways such as these.