Earlier this year, I took a five-month break from Facebook. The politically-themed posts and comments had simply become too toxic to read. In an election year, one has come to expect — albeit tearfully lament — that posts (even from many Catholics) will be grievously uncharitable. To be sure, the election cycle of 2024 offered a smorgasbord of sins against charity, but it also offered a generous helping of apocalyptic declarations.

Comments such as “If Biden wins, America is doomed,” stood alongside “If Trump wins, it’s the end of the Republic.” Here in the post-election season, we don’t see quite as many of those exact comments. But the doomsaying has grown worse.

Case in point. Recently, President Biden authorized the nation of Ukraine to use U.S.-provided long-range weapons against targets in Russian territory. Russia responded by firing intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine.

The response on Facebook was that this would inevitably lead to nuclear conflict. Of course, this discussion is not confined to social media, A few days ago, a friend asked me, “So what do you think about the start of World War III?”

It’s tempting to start talking here about just-war doctrine, Ukraine’s natural law right to self-defense, Putin’s use of North Korean troops, the Cold War or Our Lady of Fatima.

But at this moment, it is more important — vitally important — for parents to understand the anxiety that this “World War III” talk is causing their children, especially younger children. Parents might not think that their 8- and 9-year-old children, for instance, are listening when mom and dad watch “the news.” But they are. And many of them are scared. Worse, they don’t exactly know how to ask mommy and daddy about it. They just get more scared.

I grew up during the Cold War. I saw the Soviet parades on television, in which the government paraded weapons in the streets. I saw pictures of invasions of Russian satellite nations. I knew that my dad had already fought once in Vietnam. Would he have to go back? As a young boy, these thoughts made me plenty scared. I grew very frightened at the sound of thunder because I imagined that the Russians had finally dropped a bomb near us. Of course, when you’re a little kid, it’s hard to know how to ask your mom about geopolitics and Sovietology. You just go to bed at night, scared.

Keep in mind, this was before the 24/7 news cycle, in which networks and podcasts consistently stoke fear and anger — vices that have proven addictive to modern audiences. That’s not accidental. A friend of mine once worked for a conservative political think tank. His boss told him that his job was to find out what issue scared the audience the most, and write emails appealing to that fear, with the hope of generating donations. Many news networks work the same way: Scare and anger people, and they’ll tune in again tomorrow. That’s the formula, and it’s proven shamefully successful. But the saddest part is that children are listening to all this in their houses.

A parent might think that his young son or daughter is quietly playing with toys in the living room, oblivious to the sound of the television news. But very often, they’re not. They may not know the precise meaning of what they’re listening to, but they are listening.

After all, I was.

It is unfair to hoist the geopolitical problems of the world onto the tiny shoulders of children at all — much less on a nightly, three-hour bingeing basis.

I claim no expertise outside of raising and homeschooling nine children, but I would suggest that instead of binge-watching the Armageddon-promising news in front of our children, we find beneficial pursuits. For smaller children, turn off the “news” and podcasts, and take a refreshing break from Facebook. Play games. Get out the Monopoly set or a deck of cards. Sip egg nog while you play Candyland. Read them The Magician’s Nephew. Play with Pet Shop Toys. Play charades. Go for a walk with them. Go see Christmas light displays and manger scenes. Go sledding.

Do the things that parents used to do before an obsession with politics became all the rage.