Which newspaper for a nearly year 8 child?

[ninanina]

Last year we had a subscription to Week Junior which my dc enjoyed and wants to continue. But before we extend our subscribtion, I wanted to look around and see if we could try something different this year for a change.

Does anyone know what the difference is between Week Junior and First News? which one is for more mature children? My dc is very well read and enjoys reading world news, but I was just thinking if perhaps these newspapers are not too childish for a nearly 13 year old. Which one of them would be better for a 13 year old, or are there any other alternatives I don't know of? Thanks for your suggestions.

[PettswoodFiona]

First news is pitched at a lower level than The Week Junior in my opinion. DD is in Y8 and grew out of the week Junior about a year ago but had been persevering with it until six months ago, so I appreciate your problem. The solution is to read her dads copy of The Week, she does read the broadsheet morning papers a bit too but some content probably isn’t age appropriate so it is only ever round the kitchen table in the mornings but at age 13 we take the view she can read the papers left on trains etc without our oversight so have taken a back step in supervision but she knows to come to us with any questions or topics that worry her, not that she is the worrying type.

DD also gets the BBC history magazine and enjoys that too.

[kenyancowgirl]

To be honest, at Year 8, I would be expecting them to watch the news on TV every day and read whatever newspaper we have in the house (in reality we subscribe online) and they do look....

[RedVelvet]

We have the I delivered three times a week. The children have read it over breakfast since primary school, it covers all the news and is generally unbiased, probably slightly left of centre but mostly factual. Definitely readable for the average 8 year old.

I'd prefer something more in depth but I can read this cover over breakfast and a cup of coffee.

[ninanina]

Thanks for your replies.

Redvelvet, what newspaper do you mean?

[RedVelvet]

It called 'I'

It started as a tabloid sized version of the Independent. Most newsagents stock it.

[anotherdad]

Private Eye. Among the silly schoolboy humour there is some excellent investigative journalism, it exposes the bias and hypocrisy of the mainstream newspapers and media organisations, the occasional special reports are fascinating and the cartoons are often provocative and very funny. It also develops a wonderful cynicism at an early age! My daughter is an avid reader of my fortnightly copy.

Other than that, get hold of second-hand copies of the Express and Mail (never give those rags money) and have some fun with scissors and paste trying to construct your own "peak-Mail" and "peak-Express" issues. The latter will normally comprise of sensational and exaggerated forecasts of weather, Diana conspiracies, Madeleine McCann theories and the effect of all of those on house prices. Oh, and don't forget the scourge of immigration.

An annual subscription is only something like £30.

[guest201]

Mine read the BBC news app. Keeps them up to date with what is going on in the world and there are some interesting articles too, my year 8 son in particular will often mention articles he has read that have surprised amused or interested him.

[mystery]

It so depends on the child doesn't it - I'm not aware of anything newsy specifically for young people other than The Week Junior - but if there is I'd like to hear about it too.

My year 7 still likes it but my year 9 can't abide "news" in any shape or form. To my relief she does appear to know a little bit about something or other as the occasional headline flashes up her phone.

When she was much younger she enjoyed reading shocking sounding stories in copies of the Mail etc lying around free in waiting rooms but not any more - that's probably a good thing.

I enjoyed reading bits of the Sunday paper and local papers at that age, parts of the daily broadsheets, watching the BBC news, and reading Readers' Digest (nicely simplistic and sensationalist but not "news" as such).

Yes, ideally they'd be reading regular broadsheets but something has gone wrong here.

[Amber]

my year 9 can't abide "news" in any shape or form.

She is going to make a great social scientist; well on the way to realising that there is no such thing as 'news' - it is all a social construct anyway.

Try 'The Conversation' (online) for some non-news-type news. This is also a great resource for getting young people to think about things beyond the narrow portrayals in mainstream media outlets. Also Radio 4 - some really intelligent speech on a variety of interesting subjects, all podcastable. Speech is undervalued imho in the feverish quest to get children reading.

ETA - you reminded me of 'Readers' Digest' Mystery. I used to like that too - a neighbour used to pass old copies onto us. I recall the series 'I am John's/Jane's x' with x being a body part. 'I am John's bladder' for some reason has stuck with me. Very illuminating, but I remember my mother taking the one about testicles off me.