Parenting Debate: Should A 9-year-old Reporter Cover A Homicide?

A nine-year-old reporter named Hilde Kate Lysiak reported a homicide from Pennsylvania on Saturday. However, the story sparked a parenting debate of whether a young girl should be allowed to report news about the murder story.

Hilde posted the story on her website, Orange Street News, after confirming the story with the police department and gathering information from neighbors. The young girl was also the first to report the incident even before any professional media outlet.

Unfortunately, her story was bombarded with comments from her Facebook and YouTube pages claiming that her age is too young to be covering murder stories. Hilde addressed her critics and parenting debate spectators by uploading another video stating that while she is only nine years old, she is a reporter first, according to Parent Herald.

Hilde's story sparked a widespread parenting debate on whether it was appropriate for the young girl to be covering a violent death. The majority of people online responded by saying that parents know their children best which means they would also know what they can and cannot handle. Several parenting experts claimed that people should not be one to dictate how parents should raise other people's children.

Beth Engelman from Chicago, who is the co-founder of parenting website Mommy on a Shoestring said that while she would have been freaked out to hear about murder from a person at that age, she believes that the young girl could handle the details. Daryn Kagan, a former CNN anchor also admired Hilde's parents for doing a great job in providing a channel for their daughter's interests and passions, CNN reported.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with Hilde's parents on letting her pursue her dreams of becoming a reporter. Some concerned citizens in the parenting debate, believe that Hilde is indeed too young to be reporting on a murder story.

"The child can't possibly understand the total implications of a story this magnitude," according to Louise Sattler, a psychologist and co-founder of 411voices.com. Sattler reiterated that safety should have been prioritized as the story could have put the child and family in jeopardy.

Pamela Wechsler, a local state and federal prosecutor for 17 years explained that stories of homicide impact a person without even realizing it at the time. She goes on to explain that these stories change how a person sees the world and how they interact with other people.

Do you think it is appropriate for a 9-year old to cover a murder story? Share your parenting debate thoughts in the comments below.