CNN 10
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this website.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there's nothing offensive on the CNN Student News site itself, and no personal information is required to use the site's features. However, links at the top of the page give access to the main CNN News site, where kids might encounter stories with mature topics such as crime, drugs, violence, or rape. For optimal learning, some guidance is recommended to help kids sort out the stories presented in the daily news feature and keep kids from straying off of the student site.
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- Parents say
- Kids say
CNN Student News an Indoctrination to Mass Media Violence
Violence, war, politics, guns, suicide? NO WAY!
Misleading and bias BS
Teacher forces us to watch
What's it about?
The CNN Student News home page has neatly arranged and easy-to-follow sections that give the necessary information for students, parents, and teachers. The main feature is the daily news report, in which broadcaster Carl Azuz offers up the news of the day with explanations that include important background information for understanding the issues. The Resources section includes transcripts of each broadcast, discussion suggestions, and downloadable maps, all targeted to the topics. The FAQ section provides helpful information for all users.
Is it any good?
CNN Student News is addressed to parents and teachers as well as kids, and it may be that the site is best used in a classroom or with parental guidance. The main feature, the daily news broadcast, lumps together multiple stories, making the narration sound like a very long run-on sentence. Each story can stand on its own and is extremely informative, appropriate, and interesting, but kids will need some guidance to stop the video after each segment, whether to discuss it, get additional information, or simply reflect a bit.
The site is clearly labeled, and resources and additional stories are easy to find. The linked sections offer video broadcasts from CNN shows and can stand on their own. Independent reviewing of these sections may get kids drawn in and interested in related issues. The site has a lot to offer and much can be learned by using the materials provided.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about the news. Help kids analyze media by discussing the presentation of one of the featured news stories. What made the story interesting? Are there opinions expressed in it? Whose views are shown?
Select one of the human interest feature stories. Ask your kids if they were influenced by the story? In what way? What did they learn from this particular article?
Watch a 15-minute local news broadcast with your child and discuss how it differs from the CNN Student News broadcast of the same day. Are there overlapping stories? If so, why might this be the case?
Website details
- Subjects: Social Studies: cultural understanding, events, global awareness, government, the economy
- Skills: Self-Direction: academic development
Communication: asking questions
Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, defining problems, thinking critically
Tech Skills: evaluating media messages - Genre: Educational
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: November 11, 2020
Our editors recommend
For kids who love current events
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.