I thought the death at a local daycare made me squeeze my kids a little tighter. Then the earthquake in Japan sure had me hugging them hard once again -- and wondering what the right way to handle world news with kids is.

Coming from the land of the BBC, I find much of the North American news overly sensational and often way too graphic for my own sensitivities. We never watch the news while the kids are around, and always make sure that the TV is set back to Treehouse in case a child ever turns it on without us realizing (even the sports channel has some atrocious ads right in the middle of a game).

I am also acutely aware that there is nothing for younger audiences in the way that I grew up with John Craven's Newsround. On at 5 p.m. every day, it was a BBC television news offering specifically for kids and, while it covered news with live reports from around the world, it did it with the young audience in mind. It tried to provide facts in a non-scary way and often from the perspective of the kids in the places it was covering.

The problem is that I believe very strongly in children knowing about the world in which we live and am convinced that such interest and understanding of the world helps to contribute to a more tolerant society, which welcomes diversity and differences.

I also think it can be an important way for kids to get their own lives in context when they see some of the hardships encountered by people elsewhere -- a lost toy doesn't seem the emergency it once did after they realize that other children have lost not only every one of their toys, but their homes, their schools and maybe their families too.

The trouble is how to find that balance between sharing news and not overwhelming or frightening them. While we do sit and talk about our day at the dinner table each evening, the subject of massive world events doesn't exactly trip off the tongue while eating spaghetti. In the case of the earthquake, there was a logical explanation of why I was pulling apart our front closet and repacking our earthquake kit. I briefly mentioned that there had been an earthquake in another part of the world, but I was very sparing with information.

I can't help wondering what other people do or how best to handle other major events. For example, what would I have said or tried to explain after the events of 9-11? Thankfully, that was a time for us that was pre-kids, so we only had to worry about trying to wrap our own heads around the unfathomable news at that time.

I did find out that Newsround is still going in the UK and does have a website, but the online videos aren't available to us in North America. That said, I have discovered a couple of websites catering to kids news that may be a good resource. Perhaps we need to start making time to check in on a daily or weekly basis to introduce them to the concept of the world beyond their own lives. For now, I'm just glad that my biggest concern is what to share and what not to share, that I can choose for my kids to live blissfully unaware of the worst of the tragedy going on in the world.

I look forward to a day when I can sit and discuss world events with my kids, when my kids will know which part of the world countries are in and appreciate their cultures, languages and geography. I also hope that by then, there is better news to share.

- Clare Adams is a Tri-Cities mom.