The Onion
The Onion
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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 The Onion is a satirical news site focused on current events. While there's a tongue-in-cheek approach to subjects ranging from heroin and marijuana use to talking to your child about sex, there's also a degree of mature content included with pieces, like profanity in headlines or videos with some sexual illustrations. As a result, many parents could feel that some content isn't appropriate for younger kids. Kids can also be exposed to a large number of ads before videos, company sponsored content, and a store promoting Onion-branded gear.
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What’s It About?
THE ONION features articles on politics, entertainment, sports, and other subjects, written in the sardonic tone the print newspaper became famous for. It also hosts videos, editorial cartoons, commentary and opinion pieces, and sarcastic horoscopes. Video content ranges from quick jokes paired with still images to clips from The Onion's faux news network and sponsored videos from companies like car2go. All of the articles The Onion has published since 1996 are available on the site.
Is It Any Good?
Readers will enjoy scrolling through this humorous website's treasure trove of humorous articles, although its meant for a mature audience. With headlines that mock public figures, suggest mutant creatures are living in theme park rides, and poke fun at common behaviors, there's plenty to draw them in and keep them coming back for more in the future. The site doesn't post violent photos, or anything sexual that's not for laughs; that said, parents may still not be comfortable with kids seeing all of its content -- whether it's in jest or not -- particularly if their children are young.
Supervising the content kids click on wouldn't be a bad idea; parents won't have to worry, though, that unescorted kids will end up on YouTube or another site with free-for-all content because The Onion's videos are hosted on its site and aren't linked to an exterior page. In addition, The Onion's site doesn't offer chat capabilities or the chance to create a profile and post comments, removing the risk kids will talk to people they don't know.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about news coverage. How does news coverage compares to the articles on the site? Do they sound different? What kind of information varies?
Do you know how to tell the difference between a legitimate information source and a site like this that's just for fun -- or a resource that can't be substantiated?
Website Details
- Genre: Fan Sites
- Pricing structure: Free
- Last updated: March 23, 2017
Our Editors Recommend
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Interactive, kid-friendly news source gives kids the scoop.
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TV newsmag spoof is often hilarious; OK for older teens.
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Fun, interactive way for kids to learn about current events.
For kids who love humor
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