what do you not allow your children to watch?

[Mary_Magdalene]

what cartoons or tv shows do you not allow your children to watch? Why?

we do not watch (short list):

dragon tales
arthur
pokemon
cyberchase
harry potter
care bears!

 

[Andry]

You first. Why not? (from your list)


And, to make things more interesting, what do you watch...it'll make for interesting comparison.

 

[pmcleanj]

what cartoons or tv shows do you not allow your children to watch? Why?

It would be shorter to list the things the girls *are* allowed to watch!

In general, we don't watch TV. Not because of moral objections to TV in general or to specific programmes, but because the flickering lights against the optic nerve are disruptive to concentration and to mental and emotional health, because it's a poor alternative to healthy outdoor exercise and imaginative play, because we simply don't have the time for such low-value entertainment, and because laugh-tracks and most other TV sound effects make me grind my teeth.

Things we do watch, though certainly much less than weekly:

"Wings" and "This Century" on the History channel; Footnotes, and Live from the Kirov on Bravo; Monster Garage, American Chopper and Junkyard Wars; Enterprise; and occasional re-runs of Home Improvements. DH occasionally watches NASCAR and boxing, and also schlock movies when the children are in bed. I watch twenty minutes of whatever is on while I'm working out in the morning -- usually a hokey Canadian ranching drama set in 1930's British Columbia, but sometimes the weather channel(!).

No Saturday morning cartoons, ever, of any kind.

Good history dramas like the Horatio Hornblower or Sharpe series we watch together on DVD so that we can stop them frequently to discuss the social, military, economic and historical context. I probably have the only eight-year-old in a hundred kilometres who knows why infantry form square to receive a cavalry charge.

we do not watch (short list):

dragon tales
arthur
pokemon
cyberchase
harry potter
care bears!

I, too, would be fascinated to know what you have against Arthur and the Care Bears. How do Smurfs measure up? Bugs Bunny?

 

[Jenna]

It's easier for me just to list what I 'do' let my daughter watch. lol Being that she is 3, Nick Jr. is real great right now. I let her watch shows like Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, Little Bill, and occassionally Max and Ruby. Other than that, I'll switch over and let her watch the baby looney toons, but have to be quick to make sure that the channel is changed before "The Grim Adventures of.." comes on. That is just a disgusting show. Oh, and though it gets highly annoying at times, I'll let her watch Spongebob for a bit, until I start feeling the urge to snuffocate myself. lol

Mainly, we just try to stear clear of cartoons where there is a lot of fighting, more adult type humor, or morbid yuckiness. lol

 

[Celticflower]

In this house NOBODY watches the current trend of stupid people trick shows (ie "reality TV").

The kids do watch a lot of the cartoons that seem to be popular, but usually don't tune in for a rerun. And if any of them are taken toooo seriously, they will not be back. (not a real threat with a 10 and 12 yr old). Cartoons can also be nixed if mom or dad find them too annoying (like Ed, Edd and Eddy).

The home makeover shows, Monster Garage, NASCAR, NHL and "Joan of Arcadia" are family faves. I like the investigative history programs on Discovery and History channels as well as the dwindling number of well written dramas that are on. My husband likes the war stuff (WW II bombing raids at 2am is not a great thing to wake up to). We also spend a lot of time on Amimal Planet.

I used to watch PBS alot, but no they only put the good stuff on when they want money, so you get 15 mins of a movie or play and 30 mins of begging. Not my idea of interesting viewing.

Celtie

 

[Mary_Magdalene]

I, too, would be fascinated to know what you have against Arthur and the Care Bears. How do Smurfs measure up? Bugs Bunny?

Well, i used to watch arthur with them. they did have the character "Cruella" (?) on. she and her family are into astrology, card reading and other occult things. i used to be able to flip the channel when she appeared but now she is on all the time and alot of the new story lines are around her.

then, we were on vacation and i saw a care bears movie at Walmart. no biggie-i used to love Care Bears! i was so comfortable with the thought of my kids watching Care Bears that i didnt watch it before i let them (i know-dumb move on my part). then my daughter (4 yo) said she was only a "little bit" scared of the movie. i knew i had to watch it then! i did and the story was about a little boy that gets a demon telling him to do bad things! the care bears are the only ones that can save him from the demon.... i about died!!! i could not believe that was in a care bears movie.

Smurfs-are they still on?
Bugs-we have never had an occasion to watch it.

i let them watch Dora and Blues Clues.

 

[Mary_Magdalene]

My husband likes the war stuff (WW II bombing raids at 2am is not a great thing to wake up to).

I know how you feel! My DH loves those shows!

 

[pmcleanj]

Well, i used to watch arthur with them. they did have the character "Cruella" (?) on. she and her family are into astrology, card reading and other occult things...

...the story was about a little boy that gets a demon telling him to do bad things! the care bears are the only ones that can save him from the demon.... i about died!!! i could not believe that was in a care bears movie.

...

i let them watch Dora and Blues Clues.

Cripes! I see your point. Little children don't need to see creepy things like that. The (admittedly very few) Care Bear episode-fragments I've ever seen dealt with much gentler conflicts. Teddy-bears and demon's just don't seem to go together. Similarly the Arthur conflicts I recall were about school and friends and learning to be honest and kind.

I've never seen Dora or Blues Clues, but other mothers I respect allow them, so I'm guessing they're more along the lines of what I'd find appropriate. What about Thomas the Tank Engine or -- don't know if you'd get it in the States -- Theodore Tugboat. I used to keep a VHS recording of a handful of those two shows for those late-home-from-daycare hard-day-at-work what-on-earth-will-I-cook days when I felt I just couldn't cope. I probably didn't use the electronic babysitter more than a dozen times while the girls were tiny, but those dozen or so times I *really* needed it LOL!

 

[Mary_Magdalene]

i know- i always allowed arthur because there was usually a lesson to be learned (sharing, kindness, etc.) and it was so "innocent".

 

[Andry]

i know- i always allowed arthur because there was usually a lesson to be learned (sharing, kindness, etc.) and it was so "innocent".

I tend to take a different approach to it. My 4yo loves Arthur, and yes there was that pyschic/astrology bit with one of the characters. But no show/character is 'perfect' and so if we're evaluating it from purely that basis, then it's no TV whatsoever.

I'd rather let my son see the palm reading parts, as an example, on Arthur and have him ask me about them rather than him seeing them in real life. That way I have a chance to tell him about it, explain it, avoid it, etc etc. rather than him having to confront it in real life without my being there, so to speak. There is a fine line, of course, that our kids don't need to see anything graphically or blatantly evil, such as in horror movies. And of course, if the show's original premise is mayhem, destruction, and questionable morals, it's switch the channel time.

There was one episode on Arthur (another example), where Brain was trying to debunk the other kids' superstitions - walking under a ladder, black cats, and the like. It became a great opportunity for me to share and explain to my son about that, and about 'luck', and to share what God says about it all. What this does is 'force' my wife and/or me to be there watching what he watches, and it keeps the responsibility of babysitting the kids on us parents, and not the TV.

 

[Jillian1527]

what cartoons or tv shows do you not allow your children to watch? Why?

we do not watch (short list):

dragon tales
arthur
pokemon
cyberchase
harry potter
care bears!

Can I ask why no Dragon tales?
I let my girls ages almost 7 and almost 5 watch Harry Potter. but I have also read the books to them. my 7 year old loves HP. She is good about knowing the difference between real and make-belive. and alot of the time we will sit and watch the making of the movies just so they get a grasp of the technology in the shows.
Cartoon network is a NO NO in our house. other than that sadly the TV is alway on nick Jr. or PBS. the girls love Zoom. and full house. now that its summer we are out doors alot.
thats just me though.
-Jillian

 

[MyNameAlreadyTaken]

Most satellite distibuters will give a reciever box that can automatically switch channels if you program it to. Even though my kids don't watch TV all day, I have it automatically switch channels to the shows that I don't mind them watching. That way, if they go in the livingroom and turn on the TV, it's always on an appropriate show.

I try to avoid any show that makes the parents look like idiots. I also try to avoid any show that kids show any type of disrespect to their parents. The magic in cartoons can be explained as false. However, the "realistic magic" found on shows and movies like Harry Potter are harder to explain to a three year old, simlply because it looks too real. Dragons are non-existant in reality, so it's easier to dismiss the cartoon as fake.

 

[straightforward]

I've never seen Dora or Blues Clues, but other mothers I respect allow them, so I'm guessing they're more along the lines of what I'd find appropriate.

I don't know about Dora but Blues Clues is a major favorite of mine...and my three year old.

What about Thomas the Tank Engine or -- don't know if you'd get it in the States -- Theodore Tugboat.

Thomas is the major favorite in our house...although I can't stand the voices done by Alec Baldwin I don't know if Theodore Tugboat is still on. My eleven year old used to watch it all the time when he was a toddler. I liked it alot more than Thomas.

We don't worry about what to watch on TV anymore...we got rid of the cable and now only watch videos! Life is good.

 

[MyNameAlreadyTaken]

We don't worry about what to watch on TV anymore...we got rid of the cable and now only watch videos! Life is good.

I think we will do that as soon as our contract runs out. Too bad it would cost us $300 (US) to cancell it now.

 

[beetlequeendiva]

I'm not a parent but oh my goodness - why would they put demon's in Care Bears, it used to be so cute...... everything has to have something evil in it now, that's just very annoying.....

 

[psychoceramic]

we dont have cable tv in the house...... so we watch lots of movies and do lots of other stuff...... our daughter is seven.. and she watches mostly movies... or old taped shows.. and she and her dad (me) watch wrestling every monday night (we head over to the grandparents and watch).. and we have lots of tapes of wrestling from back in the old days.....when a time comes where we know what is about to happen....and we dont want her to see it... we send her out of the room..... or change channels. we watch sports.. old movies or shows... and we watch.. some reality shows. (now what she watches over at her bio-moms house is another story. by her fourht b-day.... she had seen coyote ugly, and by her fifth b-day she had seen 40 days and 40 nights....yet cps wont remove her froom this house we dont get it.. but we follow GOD faithfully on what HE ask us todo in the situation.. but i noticed i went random... so back to the topic...))


i have some questions....... jillian... you say yes to harry potter.. and show the kids the difference..... why not the cartoon network.. its more "make believe" than anything else on tv.........

does any one have a problem with allowing thier children to watch....sesame street or bear in the big blue house or any disney show... they have such a world view and non christian view.


i mean i am not perfect when it comes to this... i can't stand cussing and try not to allow my daughter to hear the words....(we have tv guardian) but "sports or cartoon violence" we allow. My wife tolerates the words.. but won't allow our daughter to hear them

 

[Blindfaith316]

ahhhh, life is much simpler in a house with absolutely no cable access (not even PBS~ ) we watch movies that are pre-screened by me and my husband, and nothing else.... and it would be aeasier to list what they are allowed to watch, then what they aren't allowed to.

They have a pretty extenseive movie collection:
Veggie Tales (we own them all...)
321 Penguins ( all of them also)
Blue's Clue's (a few of these)
Dora the Explorer (although they are sick of this particular show!) (we are giving the tapes away to kids that DO watch it!! **lol**)
Caillou (we have an episode on tape)
and they have some other movies....
Toy Story I and II
and some others, I cant think of at the moment...


they only are allowed to watch a couple video's a day.,the rest of the time, they actually play and use their imaginations, and the TV is almost always off. They really prefer veggie tales, and I love the sweet little songs that they sing...

"God is bigger than the boogey man, he's bigger than godzilla or the monsters on TV, oh God is bigger than the boogey man and he;s watching out for you and me...."

and they all tell biblical stories or have biblical values with a scripture verse at the end... great show!

 

[Suzannah]

We threw the cable box away a while ago...there just didn't seem to be any "wholesomeness" anymore. We have a television,but we live in a very rural area and can only receive two channels. So when we watch the box, we're usually watching a movie. A few movie samples that I felt were good and that included wholesome themes without violence or bad language

The Story of Joe Straight
My Dog Skip
The Bear

My daughter is very busy most of the time, feeding the animals, and doing chores around our place, so there's little time for the booob tube.

 

[selune]

We watch trading spaces and such as a family, the kids like to guess what the other family will think of the new room. As for kids' shows, we all watch the WB Sat. morning line-up together Yu-gi-oh, Static Shock, Teen Titans, Pokemon are our favorites. The kids like the makebelieve worlds. Cartoon network has the old favs of Tom and Jerry. We are fans of HP because it's good story telling. Most of the time though, the kids are all playing legos or dress up or whatever using their imagination. They watch maybe 1-2 hours a day (often less) except for Sat. morning and then we are often going about errands so we don't catch those toons.

 

[Deb4given]

Well, i used to watch arthur with them. they did have the character "Cruella" (?) on. she and her family are into astrology, card reading and other occult things. i used to be able to flip the channel when she appeared but now she is on all the time and alot of the new story lines are around her.

then, we were on vacation and i saw a care bears movie at Walmart. no biggie-i used to love Care Bears! i was so comfortable with the thought of my kids watching Care Bears that i didnt watch it before i let them (i know-dumb move on my part). then my daughter (4 yo) said she was only a "little bit" scared of the movie. i knew i had to watch it then! i did and the story was about a little boy that gets a demon telling him to do bad things! the care bears are the only ones that can save him from the demon.... i about died!!! i could not believe that was in a care bears movie.

Smurfs-are they still on?
Bugs-we have never had an occasion to watch it.

i let them watch Dora and Blues Clues.

My children are just about raised, when I became a christian 24 years ago, the care bears were a no-no even then. Just because of the underlying evil that was on there. Same with the smurfs. I use to have a book about cartoons and Christians, it really showed you all the junk that's hidden in cartoons. Of course some don't even hide it.