Dirty Laundry--I'm so sick of bad news

[infomama]

Warning...some may find content of this post upsetting as it recalls past news stories although details of each story are not discussed here.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
I am so thankful that that little baby was found alive in Florida http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_florida_baby but honestly I wish I never knew about this from the get go. What an unreal situation. Who does such things.

I get so torn up thinking about all the abuse and violence and sadness reported on the news. The disgusting feeling I felt reading about that child getting slapped by the stranger recently or hearing about people going to jail because they were downloading photos of children for sexual gratification or the woman throwing her kids off a pier one by one in California (2005).

It just makes.me.sick. and I just wish I didn't know about much of this.

Ever feel that way?

[jgenie]

YES!!! I look at DS and how he's growing and changing and I marvel at the shear magic of it all. It breaks my heart to think there are children out there that don't get the love and attention they so deserve just for being. :hug:

[TwinFoxes]

I totally hear you. And honestly, that's how I feel about the whole balloon boy (or "crawl space boy") incident. I don't care that it was a hoax, because the image of a scared little boy falling out of a balloon would have haunted me forever. I really try to avoid coverage of stories like this, because they don't accomplish anything other than to depress people. Nancy Grace should be banned from the airways (not really, just using hyperbole) because of all the distress she brings people!

[egoldber]

Seriously, I just avoid all mainstream news. I scan the Yahoo News headlines, I will read the Washington Post on-line to get specific info, and I listen to NPR on the drive to and from work. That is really all I need to know. The regular TV news is so sensationalized and just inaccurate that it only drives me crazy.

[carolinamama]

I am purposely living under a rock these days. I don't do regular tv news and I don't seek out current events type news online. I will listen to NPR in the car but I am doing better for avoiding details about the other sad, sad things that I can't control.

[Snow mom]

I get caught up in this sadness that seems to surround us so I have tried to stop clicking on headlines that are clearly going to be disturbing. I want so badly to have faith in mankind that people will do the right thing, be honest, be kind, etc. I know that most people do but even the fact that so many people make their living by stealing from or cheating others gets me down. I hadn't thought of that case in CA in a long time. My dad sat on the jury. He is such a gentle soul, I felt so bad when he had to sit through weeks with so much more than we are exposed to in the media.

[love_a_latte]

I am purposely living under a rock these days. I don't do regular tv news and I don't seek out current events type news online. I will listen to NPR in the car but I am doing better for avoiding details about the other sad, sad things that I can't control.

:yeahthat:

A few months after DD was born I realized that I had to get WAY less info about all the horrible things that happen every day, esp. involving kids. Now I get the big stuff, enough to know what is going on in the world, but not all the heartbreaking stories that keep cycling around in my brain.

[MamaMolly]

My sister used to be an Assistant DA. She was good. There was one case involving the death of a child due to abuse that she helped prosecute I think has honestly scarred her for life. She doesn't miss that job. I'm so proud of her for what she was able to do.

The old adage is that 'If it bleeds it Leads' in the news. But I think that when I was little they were more careful about what was shown on TV. I remember newscasters advising parents to send young children from the room. I remember that dead bodies weren't shown on TV. Now the more gruesome and sensationalized the news, the more coverage it gets.

In my heart I know that there are more good people than bad. People who do good, selfless acts every day. I love to read the Hometown Heros section of Readers Digest. I scan regular headlines but do not watch TV news. I'm not an ostrich who just won't listen to bad news, but I do choose to carefully filter what I am willing to read about.

[Clarity]

I almost posted about this once myself. I have just gotten to the point where I could not bear to look at the news - CNN has an article up nearly every day about how a child was mistreated. It shakes my faith in the good in this world. I look at my dc and they're so blessed. I simply ache for the little ones who are treated unkindly or even violently.

[kijip]

TV news is a waste of my time. Like Beth, I get what I need online (from select sources), the radio and I also read some select printed stuff (WSJ about 1/2 the days of the week, the Economist, at least what is on the front page of the Seattle Times.) That means that I learn of a lot of the shock value stories here at BBB or on the covers of magazines at the gym or "over the water cooler" word of mouth.

[TwinFoxes]

TV news is a waste of my time. Like Beth, I get what I need online (from select sources), the radio and I also read some select printed stuff (WSJ about 1/2 the days of the week, the Economist, at least what is on the front page of the Seattle Times.) That means that I learn of a lot of the shock value stories here at BBB or on the covers of magazines at the gym or "over the water cooler" word of mouth.

That's the problem...I rarely watch TV news, but somehow a lot of these stories filter in. Some things you just can't miss (although somehow I did miss the story of this Florida girl.) And that Nancy Grace woman has her commercials all over TV, so even though I watch only a little during the day, I still get to see the latest tragedy she's exploiting.

Re: bodies etc on TV. I don't really recall seeing bodies on TV very much, and definitely not dead American bodies. (And I don't miss it!) When I was in Madrid once there was a Basque bombing there, and I was really shocked at the gore they showed, there was no holding back. Bodies missing parts, severed limbs, blood everywhere. It was horrifying.

[SammyeGail]

I am purposely living under a rock these days. I don't do regular tv news and I don't seek out current events type news online. I will listen to NPR in the car but I am doing better for avoiding details about the other sad, sad things that I can't control.

:yeahthat: Sad story ahead:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

I purposely avoid it too. With the exception of one local case on the news where they *said* a mother set her trailer (hey, I live in the South) on fire to kill herself and her young children. She had an ex-husband-good relationship and a current boyfriend. They made it sound so horrible, but seeing the house on the news it didn't even look like it had any damage.

I knew her Dad had a small shoe repair shop, I had been there before. I didn't go back until about 6 months after it happened, I tried really hard but I broke down and cried telling him how sorry I was that it happened. He did too. We talked alot, she wasn't depressed at all, was behind on the payments, about to loose it. The news reported she used gasoline, made a big circle in the den and forcibly held her children there. (If you are burning-the pain-yourself, do you think you could forcibly hold someone else down also? That was the first thing I thought when I heard the story, kwim?)

Factually (according to the Dad) the gasoline was on the coach opposite the door, alot. He said she had joked in the past that she'd rather it get blown away in a tornado than they take it away from her, it was her pride. She had tried to burn it down, but used to much gasoline + cheap trailer carpet burns fast/heavy smoke. (DH is a volunteer fireman & went thru certification school). Her Dad thinks the kids were outside and tried to come in to get her. She had some burns on her head, one child had no burns, the other had burns on one foot. They all died of smoke inhalation. The children were found at the door and she was right behind them.

So I don't like even watching the local news, this particular station and how they spun the story and went on about it for months and months.

I know there are some certified crazy people out there, I really want to avoid those stories or I would be haunted by them. (DH tells me about the news/these type of stories enough!) I can at least give this mom the benefit of the doubt, I was in the shoe repair shop several times, he did take his time repairing DS's shoes ;).

[secchick]

Me too. I have put self-imposed restrictions on myself for watching the local news. I avoided all sources, tv, newspaper, local news websites etc. during the first Baby Grace trial (which is a local story here). I made the mistake of reading one story about the testimony describing what they did to that poor innocent little girl who looked exactly like DD and it will continue to haunt me forever. I just cannot do it. This time there seems to be less coverage for the father's trial, so it has been much easier to avoid.

[Nooknookmom]

I feel exactly the same way. I keep imagining what else happened to that poor Florida baby, geesh if she was stuck in a box for crying out loud what ELSE did they do to her.

I gotta stop, really, I'll get sick.

My reaction to this stuff is totally why I am glad that I did not end up working as a child psychologist or social worker. I would have ended up shaking the parents and going to jail. Who DOES this kind of thing to their kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really p*sses me off.

[infomama]

You know I really need to just stick with NPR and an occasional glance at NYT.com.