what do you not allow your children to watch?

[*heidi*]

Having not yet been a parent and being quite a few years from it my opinion my be considered quite invalid and it would be quite reasonable for anyone to write it off. However, I intent to not allow my children to watch TV at all. Most of the things on TV contain some sort of undesirable content. Any benefits that can be gained from TV can also be gained from numerous other sources. I generally do not watch TV myself (this isn't always an easy thing to do, due to the addictive power of TV) and I plan to not have a TV in my own house. I think it will be much easier to filter out ALL TV than to select certain shows.

I hope that by not having a TV at all there won't be as many problems with children arguing about what TV they can watch. I know people my age that never grew up with a TV (which is strange because it's the norm in Australia to have at least 3 TV's in a house) and they are perfectly fine now. I would tend to argue that the whole world would be better off without TV.

That's my opinion and that is the stand I would like to take with my children.

 

[Andry]

Heidi,

Welcome to CF!

Your opinion is valid despite you not being a parent yet. Your intention is very noble.

When you do become a parent, however, please keep us informed as to how you are doing with the TV not being a part time babysitter after you haven't slept properly for a week, the house is unkept, your husband deperately wants sex, it's only noon but you've changed diapers eight times already, you haven't prepared lunch, and you haven't even brushed your teeth yet. More power to you.

BTW, what's wrong with The Wiggles?

 

[IslandBreeze]

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,

Can you please provide some links to studies and research that back up that statement?

 

[Jillian1527]

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 say no to the cartoon network due to the odd humor and content of some of the shows. (like name calling and such) I dont sit down and watch everything with them so I cant be there when something comes on that they dont understand.

I do alow disney channel at times. But my girls dont really like many of thier shows. Caliou (sp) I wont let them watch for sure becuase the child in that show is very ill behaved. sesame street is a good one but as I said they just dont seem to be very interested in it. I like that they get a worldly view on things. that everything isnt just our way. and have gone into detail as to why some people dont celebrate Christmas.

-Jillian

 

[praisegirl2]

Well both my kids have moved out but I would not let them watch a lot or most of what is on now days. Like buffy and charmed those really tick me off.

 

[straightforward]

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.

Just wanted to send a 'thank you' your way for those three movies. They are now on my must have list. I had forgotten about 'The Bear'...my kids will love it. Right now I'm just waiting for 'The Cosby Show' to be available on video. That's the entertainment I miss.

 

[Tini]

None of the dragonball Z / pokemon / power ranger type stuff.


Generally try for wildlife programs - but explain that evolution is not true.
Tweenies (a UK kiddies program)
A local sesame street (Takalani Sesame)
Quite a few of the edutainment types (learning to read; alphabet castle; magic storybox; wide eye; Number cruise).

Also a few video movies that are played over and over.

 

[Zoomer]

The kids watch Dragon Tales, Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Veggie Tales, Barney, & Sesame Street. They also like the movies- Toy Story 1 & 2, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo & Lilo and Stitch.

 

[Kokopelli]

Luckly my daughter is only 17-months and not into the TV. We have turned on a few shows, SpongeBob and Arthur, but she has shown little interest in either of the them. Though regrettably, my wife left the TV on and the dreaded "purple menace" came on. Of course, my daughter was interested in that.

The stuff we will not let her watch includes: Barney, Tele-tubbies, Cartoon Network, and Squiggles. I do not see a real problem with Arthur, maybe because I spend most of the time trying to figure out what the heck he is supposed to be.

 

[Jillian1527]

I do not see a real problem with Arthur, maybe because I spend most of the time trying to figure out what the heck he is supposed to be.

LOL..... me too!!

-Jillian

 

[tnpebbles]

Luckly my daughter is only 17-months and not into the TV. We have turned on a few shows, SpongeBob and Arthur, but she has shown little interest in either of the them. Though regrettably, my wife left the TV on and the dreaded "purple menace" came on. Of course, my daughter was interested in that.

The stuff we will not let her watch includes: Barney, Tele-tubbies, Cartoon Network, and Squiggles. I do not see a real problem with Arthur, maybe because I spend most of the time trying to figure out what the heck he is supposed to be.

I always thought he was an anteater.. I still do not know!! lol


My daughter watches Blues Clues, Rollie Ollie Poly, Bear in the big blue house, Scooby Doo (the old cartoons), Veggie Tales, She really likes The Wiggles, alot of stuff from Disney Play House.
We have a large collection of Movies that she loves, Shrek, Nemo, and Disney Movies. She loves Monsters INC and Lilo and Stitch.
I do not let her watch Prime Time Television, Cartoon Network, or Music Videos.

 

[Kokopelli]

I always thought he was an anteater.. I still do not know!! lol

He has a nose similar to an anteater.. 'course now I am thinking of that Ant and Anteater cartoon. LOL

My wife thinks he is supposed to be a rabbit, but his ears do not resemble the other rabbits in the show. If he is not an anteater, possibly a chinchilla?

:::Edit::: You were right, he is an aardvark. Amazing what a search on Google will produce.

 

[HeatherJay]

Kokopelli, why not let the kiddies watch Barney? I'm not trying to sway your decision, just wondering. Is it just the fact that it's so annoying? My kids always loved it so much and they still sing and dance along whenever it comes on.

 

[Kokopelli]

That is the exact reason why - it's annoying. Besides that, there is really nothing wrong with Barney. Not like he's going around saying, "ok Boys and Girls, let's play a game of roll the joint so Barney can something for later..." LOL

But seeing her toddle over to the TV to point it out to me, with her little laugh, is hard to deny it to her. At least it is somewhat educational.

 

[HeatherJay]

That is the exact reason why - it's annoying. Besides that, there is really nothing wrong with Barney. Not like he's going around saying, "ok Boys and Girls, let's play a game of roll the joint so Barney can something for later..." LOL

But seeing her toddle over to the TV to point it out to me, with her little laugh, is hard to deny it to her. At least it is somewhat educational.

LOL, I have a few shows that I ban just for the fact that they annoy me Thomas the Train being one...lol, the kids loved it, but it grated on my nerves like nothing else.

 

[Kokopelli]

Yeah, Thomas is one that definitely annoys me. That, along the Tele-tubbies and something I believe is called "Squiggles," or something of that sort.

I think I will also be watching some of the Saturday morning cartoons before I let her watch them. Earlier this year, my wife left the TV on Sat. morning cartoons in hopes our Cassie would watch them. Well, I was walking past the TV when one of the characters in the cartoon said, "What in Sam H*ll are you doing?" Now I know it's not a major word and it does have a Biblical reference. But that is the last thing I need Cassie rattling off in Sunday School or at her school when she's older.

 

[HeatherJay]

Are you talking about the Wiggles? The 4 grown men singing songs and hanging out with pirates and dinosaurs? LOL, yeah, my hubby hates that one, too. I don't mind it and the girls love it. We just try to get those shows out of the way before Daddy gets home.

 

[Kokopelli]

Wiggles, that is the name of it. LOL Luckly, my wife hates it too, so Cassie will not be watching it. But I am sure there will be something she'll find that drives us up a wall. Guess it's payback from when we were kids and annoyed our parents with shows like Pinwheel, Mr Rogers, Sesame Street, etc.

 

[Raithlin]

No Pokemon, Dragonball Z, etc. My 7 yr old son likes watching the educational stuff we have here, vidoes of Paddington Bear and the Disney cartoon features we have on VHS (Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast), and my 2 yr old daughter loves watching her tapes of Tele-tubbies - although i keep that down to a minimum for the sake of my own sanity - but she's not interested in anything else besides Toy Story and Winne the Pooh.

 

[Funkmd]

what do you not allow your children to watch?

our 1st is due in Nov.

We're going to limit tv and videos to .5-1 hour a day. It's been great from my nephew. One of the many advantages of having an older brother to watch do everything first. So basically they can pick their favorite show/tape and that will be that
[edit] This would be like veggie tales and other appropriate programs. None of that goofy japanimation stuff out these days. Yeah, we're going to watch veggie tales up to age 9 then work straight into "Braveheart" and "Midway", and skip all the garbage.


I honestly despise the TV in my home, and I'm plotting to destroy it. Glad I saved up for so long to get my big TV

My dad died of TV when I was still a young boy. While I wanted to go play baseball, guns and war, and whatever a son might want to do; my father was sitting on the couch dead as a doornail. I won't see that happen in my home.



~