Age Appropriate Disney Shows

[JoeNJ]

Hi everyone, I have a 7 year old and I have seen several of the very popular shows in her age group (Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, iCarly, etc) and I feel that they are for children in the 11+ age range. The focus on relationships for high school children is not what I want my daughter watching at her age. I do believe they are appropriate for older children because I like that there is generally a good message and the main characters have good intentions. At any age though, I'm not happy with the how some characters treat others, the lack of parental guidence, and the prevalence of materialistic behavior (Shopping!).

I know many children seem to be more sophisticated at a younger age, but is this a result of them trying to mimic their idols? Do we want sophisticated kids or do we want our children to act their age?

 

[Jennasis]

Hi everyone, I have a 7 year old and I have seen several of the very popular shows in her age group (Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, iCarly, etc) and I feel that they are for children in the 11+ age range. The focus on relationships for high school children is not what I want my daughter watching at her age. I do believe they are appropriate for older children because I like that there is generally a good message and the main characters have good intentions. At any age though, I'm not happy with the how some characters treat others, the lack of parental guidence, and the prevalence of materialistic behavior (Shopping!).

I know many children seem to be more sophisticated at a younger age, but is this a result of them trying to mimic their idols? Do we want sophisticated kids or do we want our children to act their age?

In keeping with the "new rule."

WELCOME. I'm sure you will find a wealth of info from other parents here on the DIS. Disney had a plethora of shows for all age groups. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny etc...I'm sure you can find something for her to watch that you will approve of.

 

[ElizK]

I had the same problems with most of the popular kids' shows. At that age I allowed my girls to watch shows that were on PBS, like Arthur and Wishbone. And not much else, other than movies on DVD/VHS. My kids are 14 and 17 now, but the shows have only gotten worse.

 

[KAMKIM]

Wonder Pets, Backyardigans, Scooby Doo (although techinically they are teenagers too) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Spongebob...these are some of hte shows that my DD8 watches.

Although her favorites are Camp Rock, iCarly, Hannah Montana and HSM.

 

[JoeNJ]

I appreciate your show suggestions and my daughter does watch Little Einsteins, Cyberchase and Scooby Doo. But the peer pressure to watch the other shows (Hannah Montana , etc) is much stronger. In her circle of friends, my wife and I seem to be the ony ones that limit these shows.

 

[KAMKIM]

I appreciate your show suggestions and my daughter does watch Little Einsteins, Cyberchase and Scooby Doo. But the peer pressure to watch the other shows (Hannah Montana , etc) is much stronger. In her circle of friends, my wife and I seem to be the ony ones that limit these shows.

Peer pressure can be tough, especially for kids as young as yours. Stick to your guns if you feel that strongly about it. I personally have not had any issues with my young girls (dd5 and dd8) watching any of the shows you mentioned.

 

[mjkacmom]

TBH, dd13 was done with those shows by the time she was 11. They don't bother me - I remember watching shows like Happy Days when I was little, Fonzie and his 3-somes, Richie getting drunk... My kids also watch the Brady Bunch, with all of the crushes and dating. I also watched the Partridge Family when I was in grade school, with similar themes.

 

[JoeNJ]

TBH, dd13 was done with those shows by the time she was 11. They don't bother me - I remember watching shows like Happy Days when I was little, Fonzie and his 3-somes, Richie getting drunk... My kids also watch the Brady Bunch, with all of the crushes and dating. I also watched the Partridge Family when I was in grade school, with similar themes.

I watched those shows too growing up but I think I was in the 4th grade range with the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family, maybe 5th-6th grade with Happy Days. But in those shows, the adults were the voice of reason and someone to look up to. Many of the shows now have little adult involvement or the adults are not really fine examples of parents. There are exceptions, but I have a feeling this contributes to the lack of respect for adults in our society today.

 

[KAMKIM]

I watched those shows too growing up but I think I was in the 4th grade range with the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family, maybe 5th-6th grade with Happy Days. But in those shows, the adults were the voice of reason and someone to look up to. Many of the shows now have little adult involvement or the adults are not really fine examples of parents. There are exceptions, but I have a feeling this contributes to the lack of respect for adults in our society today.

In my opinion its parenting that has more to do with the lack of respect for adults (although I tend to see more lack of respect for children).

Hannah Montana - single dad raising two kids, an average family I'd say - they have their problems, they resolve them together. When Miley or Jackson disobey their father they are usually shown very quickly why dad told them to do or not do whatever it is they shouldn't/should be doing. I agree that the shopping is a bit much in this show though.

iCarly - a little different since the older brother is raising Carly but shows a very strong bond between two siblings, which is awesome to see.

Camp Rock - not too much adult/kid interaction in this movie from what I can remember my kids just like it because of the music.

 

[Kies99]

My daughters are 6 and 7. I've no problem with them watching Hannah Montana, Jonas, Camp Rock or HSM. They've seen them all.

We do however limit the amount of time they spend watching them.

 

[HM]

I'd suggest looking for DVDs of older shows that you think will work, instead of looking for shows on current TV. We had to curb the shows our kids watched when they were young too.

I'd suggest Arthur (my very favorite show for kids!), Brady Bunch, Full House, Magic School Bus, and Wishbone.

 

[Tink_Or_Belle]

as a kid I watched Saved by The Bell I was watching reruns of it and I'd say Hannah Montana is probably a better role model than Zach or Slater.


I think the kids that live in a hotel have a mom that grounds them when they do stuff... of course she seems to have sent them off to live on a cruise ship so maybe she's not the BEST parent

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I don't have any kids but when flipping through the other day it was on an episode of iCarly. She was in a school hallway and her friend's (some guy at the school?) Mom came to the school and said something in a discipline tone to the girl (I'm assuming her name is Carly) and she (Carly) takes the basketball she was holding and hits the lady in the head. Followed by crowd (canned) laughter.

I watched a lot of PBS shows growing up like Wishbone (which I still watch ) and Ghostwriter when I was under the age of 13 (I wasn't even allowed to watch PG-13 movies until I was actually 13 [can you believe it?! ]). Then watched shows like Saved by the Bell, Hey Dude, and Salute My Shorts. I believe they had some qualities of today's teen shows (like Zach disregarding Mr. Belding or the campers ignoring the camp counselor on Salute My Shorts) but nothing to the degree I saw when I saw that (brief) episode of iCarly (I am assuming though that they're not all like that).

 

[AlienBrain]

Do the kids not watch Wizards of Waverly place? I have seen many shows mentioned, but not that show. In my opinion, Wizards of Waverly place is probably the best of all of them. Yes, it is more teen oriented, but I also think it focuses a ton on the importance of family, obeying your parents, etc. The movie was great too! I'm a big fan of Selena Gomez.

 

[JoeNJ]

I have heard that Wizards of Waverly Place is one of the better, non-cartoon shows but my daughter shows no interest in watching it.

 

[ElizK]

I started DVR'ing Little House on the Prairie when my girls were that age. Both loved it! Still do!

 

[JoeNJ]

Little House is a great series with a great message, I totally agree. Just be careful of later years when Laura and Mary are teenagers, things like drug addiction (Albert addicted to morphine), rape, suicide and murder are all topics delved into. All done in that special "Little house" way, but still too mature for the younger kids. The first few seasons are perfect for the 4-7 and age group.