Investigation

Speak with your children about Different Professions: Being a Journalist

Speak with your children about Different Professions: Being a Journalist

            I would like to encourage parents to speak with their children from a young age about different professions so that they can begin to think about what professions interest them.  This is all about planning for your children’s successful future.  As part of a series of blog posts, I will be discussing various professions to help parents begin the discussions.  Today, I am starting with being a journalist.

            What do journalists do?  They generally investigate, gather information, and write a story.  Some also present the story.   They can be a reporter, photojournalist, or editor. Some of the character traits associated with journalists are creative, energetic, confident, and expressive.

There is an excellent article online at pbs.org titled Every Child is a Journalist.  According to the authors, children are natural journalists because they are inquisitive and love to tell stories. 

            As part of their inquisitiveness, children are investigators.  They ask a lot of questions to find out more information and to understand things better.  It is just part of their nature.   For their creative storytelling, they like to take the information they have gathered and tell about it. 

            I know very well personally about children's storytelling.  My youngest son and his best friend attended the same elementary school and I often would pick them both up after school.   I remember hearing them talk and laugh in the back seat of the car as they discussed what had happened that day.    Sometimes, of course, they would exaggerate, but it was just in fun, and then they would break out laughing.  If they felt I should be told about an incident, they would include me in the storytelling.  I truly enjoyed those times!

            The article encourages parents to read stories to their children and to have them create stories too.   When your children tell you about events in their lives, try to get the details as this helps to develop their thinking and analyzing processes in their brains and make their stories come alive.   

 

For more information, please visit:

https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/journalist/

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/every-child-is-a-journalist