Are your kids banned from watching certain shows?

[herdtoDisney]

We defenitely have some kids' shows that are banned here-they're just not right for our particular family. Over the years, the list has changed as shows have come and gone, and kids have gotten older.

Right now, ICarly is right at the top of the banned list! Ugh. They're sassy and seem to lack parental authority. Parental authority, or lack therof, is a big factor in my family's viewing choices. Although I think Hanna Montana can be sassy at times, there is a fairly strong father figure. My girls are growing past that show now, though. When my boys were younger and Rugrats was on, that one was banned also, because of the lack of parental authority. I was ok with the origional Suite Life, but just barely...if my kids were younger, we'd probably ban Suite Life on Deck (where is their mother, lol) .

Wizards of Waverly Place is one I allow, with caution-while they have a strong family unit and work together, 'magic arts' doesn't fit with our personal beliefs. My kids are old enough that we talk about it-if they were younger, I might ban this one.

We also don't like shows where people scream (some shows, seems like everyone is screaming at each other) or cartoon violence. Also, no Fairly Odd Parents. Other than King Of The Hill, which we love, I have no use for Cartoon network. And NO Malcom in the Middle-what a dysfunctional family.

I've considered, more than once, going no-tv, but over the years, we've enjoyed it, so now we try to decide on each show individually.

 

[nessz79]

We defenitely have some kids' shows that are banned here-they're just not right for our particular family. Over the years, the list has changed as shows have come and gone, and kids have gotten older.

Right now, ICarly is right at the top of the banned list! Ugh. They're sassy and seem to lack parental authority. Parental authority, or lack therof, is a big factor in my family's viewing choices. Although I think Hanna Montana can be sassy at times, there is a fairly strong father figure. My girls are growing past that show now, though. When my boys were younger and Rugrats was on, that one was banned also, because of the lack of parental authority. I was ok with the origional Suite Life, but just barely...if my kids were younger, we'd probably ban Suite Life on Deck (where is their mother, lol) .

Wizards of Waverly Place is one I allow, with caution-while they have a strong family unit and work together, 'magic arts' doesn't fit with our personal beliefs. My kids are old enough that we talk about it-if they were younger, I might ban this one.

We also don't like shows where people scream (some shows, seems like everyone is screaming at each other) or cartoon violence. Also, no Fairly Odd Parents. Other than King Of The Hill, which we love, I have no use for Cartoon network. And NO Malcom in the Middle-what a dysfunctional family.

I've considered, more than once, going no-tv, but over the years, we've enjoyed it, so now we try to decide on each show individually.

Totally agree on iCarly! That's the only kid show that I don't like my kids watching. The characters are plain out rude and I caught my oldest (boy, even) starting to repeat some of the things she said and copping an attitude with me. That was the day that iCarly was banned.

 

[disneybound31]

This is OT--but does anyone else feel this way about the Junie B. Jones books? I cannot stand that these chapter books are the only ones my DD8 seems to want to read for the past 2 years. I find Junie B. to be whiny, smart mouthy and she does not seem to be able to get along with most anyone she encounters. Not to mention that her grammar is HORRIBLE! We live in the South- we need all the good grammar lessons we can get...lol.

Not slamming southern people- I am one myself, however, 'ain't got no' and 'I gived it away' are not phrases I want to hear coming from my home. Lord knows they hear it from friends, DH side of family and --gasp--even some of the teachers in our elementary/middle school. I volunteer alot in the schools and cringe when I hear teachers reading Junie B.--one even asked her 5th grade class today "Who bringed their folder back signed"...really?!?!

I encourage DD to read other books--she just keeps picking them from library. I even explained to her how I felt about how Junie B. speaks and DD replied..."Mom, she's a kindergartner...I know the correct way to talk."

Sorry to hijack. I just wondered if I'm alone with my hatred of Junie B.

 

[Ceila]

I never realized how non-strict I was until I read this thread. Wow. I thought we were some of the most conservative parents around, but many of you have proved me wrong, lol.

I find it odd that people think that their kids will automatically copy everything they see on television. We do allow iCarley, Hannah Montana, etc., but our kids don't act like the characters because we don't allow it. Or if they do imitate something they've seen, we put a stop to it immediately. For example (book, not TV): we let our son read Captain Underpants in first grade. He loved it, but ended up calling another child "Professor Poopypants," which he got from one of the books. We took away all of the CU books for a week, and believe me, he learned that just because you read/hear something does NOT mean you are allowed to repeat it!

This lesson comes in handy when they are older, too (he's now 11) and they begin to read books that have characters who make poor choices. It open up discussions and he is learning that he must make his own choices and not just follow the crowd. As for Junie B, I love her - she's spunky, silly, and turned my daughter onto reading. And again, just because she reads about Junie B. doesn't mean she ACTS like Junie B. For heaven's sake - it's just a character!

For those who object to children viewing negative behavior, do you ban Disney movies, too? After all, Aladdin steals, Jasmine and Ariel disobey their fathers, Rabbit clearly doesn't like some of his friends, and I haven't even started on the villains!

 

[MichelleVW]

This is OT--but does anyone else feel this way about the Junie B. Jones books? I cannot stand that these chapter books are the only ones my DD8 seems to want to read for the past 2 years. I find Junie B. to be whiny, smart mouthy and she does not seem to be able to get along with most anyone she encounters. Not to mention that her grammar is HORRIBLE! We live in the South- we need all the good grammar lessons we can get...lol.

Not slamming southern people- I am one myself, however, 'ain't got no' and 'I gived it away' are not phrases I want to hear coming from my home. Lord knows they hear it from friends, DH side of family and --gasp--even some of the teachers in our elementary/middle school. I volunteer alot in the schools and cringe when I hear teachers reading Junie B.--one even asked her 5th grade class today "Who bringed their folder back signed"...really?!?!

I encourage DD to read other books--she just keeps picking them from library. I even explained to her how I felt about how Junie B. speaks and DD replied..."Mom, she's a kindergartner...I know the correct way to talk."

Sorry to hijack. I just wondered if I'm alone with my hatred of Junie B.

Omg....Your DD is right...Junie B is just a little kid! My mom was a 3rd grade teacher and would read Junie B to her class. The "sophisticated" 3rd graders would laugh at her grammar and my mom would use it as a lesson on bad grammar.

Honestly I think the books are hysterical and they crack me up. My mom even named her cat Junie B because she was always getting in trouble as a kitten and didn't seem to know why!

 

[superme80]

We don't ban anything, because we don't really have tv. We have a tv and dvds and that is it. DS gets to watch Veggietales, Bernstain Bears, and some Disney Movies. We are pretty selective about what he watches. He does love the Disneyland & Disney World Travel Series DH got me for my birthday. Thankfully now that I am feeling much better we are watching less dvds.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

We don't really ban anything either. Of course they are not watching Family Guy or Hung, but in general we don't ban anything. Really kids can pick up a mouth anywhere, I just deal with the mouth, rather than try to avoid the situation.

I agree with you on this. I remember learning words while I was in school...on the bus!

I also think that a lot of people are seeing the old shows with rose colored glasses. I remember quite a bit of lip on Full House, teasing on Family Matters, and the kids on Cosby frequently got in trouble doing things they knew they were, specifically, not supposed to do. I remember drinking, and sneaking into a night club and stealing money.

Agree again. We rented some old TV shows for the kids last year, and my jaw was on the floor a couple times. I didn't remember them having some of the content they did! Which goes to show you...it obviously didn't phase/traumatize me much when I was a kid watching them!

 

[Britgirlus]

My son is 7 and is the biggest Spongebob fan out there - I don't see anything worng with it, personally - don't like it, but it's pretty harmless. He has also started watching iCarly and similar shows which have caused some problems - he's currently on hiatus from watching them, mainly because of his attitude beacuse of them - he knows he needs to shape up or they'll be banned for good, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. There's one other show he's not allowed to watch - don't even know what it's called - but apart from that, he's allowed to watch whatever is on on weekend mornings. One of our favorite shows to watch together is Cops !!

 

[princessmom29]

I never realized how non-strict I was until I read this thread. Wow. I thought we were some of the most conservative parents around, but many of you have proved me wrong, lol.

I find it odd that people think that their kids will automatically copy everything they see on television. We do allow iCarley, Hannah Montana, etc., but our kids don't act like the characters because we don't allow it. Or if they do imitate something they've seen, we put a stop to it immediately. For example (book, not TV): we let our son read Captain Underpants in first grade. He loved it, but ended up calling another child "Professor Poopypants," which he got from one of the books. We took away all of the CU books for a week, and believe me, he learned that just because you read/hear something does NOT mean you are allowed to repeat it!

This lesson comes in handy when they are older, too (he's now 11) and they begin to read books that have characters who make poor choices. It open up discussions and he is learning that he must make his own choices and not just follow the crowd. As for Junie B, I love her - she's spunky, silly, and turned my daughter onto reading. And again, just because she reads about Junie B. doesn't mean she ACTS like Junie B. For heaven's sake - it's just a character!

For those who object to children viewing negative behavior, do you ban Disney movies, too? After all, Aladdin steals, Jasmine and Ariel disobey their fathers, Rabbit clearly doesn't like some of his friends, and I haven't even started on the villains!

Your post kind of sums it up fro me. Just because DD sees something on tv doesn't mean she is going to do it. If that were the case her mythbusters addiction would have already led to massive destruction. Seriously, she knows bad behavior when she sees it, and knows better than to altempt to emulate it with me. She knows what the consequences will be.

 

[tmarquez]

This is pretty much us too. DD is 7, we haven't had any problems either. I don't care about the profanity...she's heard all those words before and knows whats ok to say and what isn't. She "self bans" stuff that she thinks is scary, which is almost always medical related shows.

We don't "ban" anything, unless it is violent, really scary, or there is frequent profanity. we do however discuss why something you hear on TV is NOT appropriate to say in real life, and the difference between Tv and reality. So far we have not had any problems with DD6 getting this.

 

[TxRabbit]

I find it odd that people think that their kids will automatically copy everything they see on television.

For those who object to children viewing negative behavior, do you ban Disney movies, too? After all, Aladdin steals, Jasmine and Ariel disobey their fathers, Rabbit clearly doesn't like some of his friends, and I haven't even started on the villains!

Your post kind of sums it up fro me. Just because DD sees something on tv doesn't mean she is going to do it. If that were the case her mythbusters addiction would have already led to massive destruction. Seriously, she knows bad behavior when she sees it, and knows better than to altempt to emulate it with me. She knows what the consequences will be.

For us, it's not necessarily that we think our DS will imitate negative behavior by watching it. Like you implied, that would pretty much ban everything. For my family, it is a question of whether or not there is really any ENTERTAINMENT value in watching negative behavior on a regular basis. Television banned in our household is banned for the entire HOUSEHOLD. We don't watch anything that we wouldn't let our DS watch. (The ocassional adult movie rented from the library is really the only exception).

For us, it's a matter of what you think is entertaining. Most sitcoms, teen or adult based, aren't entertaining. For us, it's never ENTERTAINING to see people relate to each other in destructive, poor ways. It's not fun to watch disfunctional families (oh I admit, it can be funny), but it is generally humor found in situations that you hope would never actually happen to anyone you know in real life. Most people enjoy these, from their continuing popularity, but we don't.

Movies can be the same way, but generally, it isn't a part of a daily diet of entertainment, and our point is not to shield ourselves from bad behavior or even bad situations, our point is to not regularly think that such things happening provide good entertainment.

My DS9 has already seen R-rated movies. Two. He saw PG-13 early too. They were DVDs, and we editted out the worst of the action (and all sexual scenes), but the stories were great, the action was great, the characters were fun, the lines were ones we love to repeat, and in general, the hero character had a way of treating people that provided what we thought of as GOOD entertainment. (And if you are curious about the R-rated movies, they were the second and third movies in the Matrix series. I won't go into details on them, but these movies are analogous to some ways and beliefs that we have. I think our favorite line in the movie is when Morpheus responds to his commanding officer, when the commanding officer says, "Not everyone believes as you do." Morpheus says, "My beliefs do not require them to.") We watch stupid things (edited as necessary) like "Dude Where's My Car?" because that is the kind of stuff that we think is hilarious and very entertaining. I know, we're odd. We can quote that thing all day, "And THEN..."

So what in the world DO we watch? It seems the only thing we watch lately is the Food Network (we don't have cable, but through some weird fluke we get this network) and that has had all kinds of great benefits for us. It's very entertaining to see some of these shows, and we don't need to feel like we are receiving some sort of thrill by watching bad things happen to people. I've been more inspired to get back into the kitchen (I need that inspiration BAD lately) and DS has been encouraged to try all kinds of new foods. He has more appreciation for different foods. His desire to travel has been sparked. All kinds of fun things.

I totally get what you are saying though. All it takes is being an active parent to override and steer your children's behavior, regardless of what they see on television, read in a book, witness at school, etc etc.

What I wonder is if people that ban certain shows for their children watch similar adult level shows themselves. And when does the line get crossed to when this will be okay for their kid to watch?

And this concludes my dissertation on banning television...

 

[herdtoDisney]

With my kids, I've always talked about WHY we chose to not watch particular shows-we've been very open about it. I have found that, as they've gotten older, they apply similar guidelines to what they choose to watch. They've learned how to look at it and decide if it's something they choose to spend their time watching.

My oldest is 17 so of course he can watch whatever he wants (and go to any movie he wants). While he may make some different choices than I do, he does think them through, and I think he makes good choices. So, as the kids get older, I do less and less 'banning'-they do it themselves, more often.

 

[iheartdisney]

Agree again. We rented some old TV shows for the kids last year, and my jaw was on the floor a couple times. I didn't remember them having some of the content they did! Which goes to show you...it obviously didn't phase/traumatize me much when I was a kid watching them!

OMG, totally! my kids picked one of the older Care bear movies at the store one day. I'm thinking awesome, Care Bears. The plot was about a kid that was possessed by an evil spirit. Then I wondered if we are sheltering our kids a little much. The Care Bears of my youth apparently features evil spirit possession...the Care Bears my kids are watching feature Too-Noisy bear and Messy Bear.

 

[jamiejo830]

I had to sign up just to reply to this. My son is 10 on September 10th. He can watch anything he wants, as long as there is not graphic sexual scenes or nudity. That said he mostly watches Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and MTV. We love the Rob Dyrdek show it is so funny. I love the funny jokes in cartoons that are aimed at adults that my son doesn't get. He is also allowed to listen to any music he wants, Eminem is his ringtone on his cell phone, and play mature rated video games, as well as online games where he chats with others. Now, I bet you have a picture of me and my son. Well, you can toss that away, because you are most likely very wrong. My son is in the gifted program in school, he is exceeding in every subject, teachers constantly label him a leader, a role model, dedicated, and a hard worker. He is always being awarded at assemblies at schools. He participates in the GREEN team, is a conflict manager, student counsel, track, and more. Who would have thought that a kid allowed to do so much could be these things, too? I will tell you how. We watch shows together and we discuss them and the consequences of behavior in real life, compared to TV or games. There is nothing he can't come to me and ask what it means. I would much rather him hear a true answer and in appropriate wording, than a buddy telling him. And by over protecting your kids you are just making them want it more. We have a good friend that we do things with often. I know she is more protective of her son than I am. He has come to our house for at least 2 years and played war type games. Then one day we were discussing kids and she mention that her son could not play war games. Uh-oh, I immediately apologized and told her that he had been at my house, but no longer would be allowed to. Next time I had him over to play, I told him that he should have told me he couldn't play those kind of games. You know what he answered?? "Oh, it's ok, as long as my mom doesn't know!" My point is when they are very little, protect away, but once they start school, it is time to be realistic and decide, is it better for you to teach them about things or their buddy? Regardless they will learn and hear it all somehow, you did, didn't you? Oh, and each to their own, this is just my opinion and personal experience.

 

[tmtee]

I had to sign up just to reply to this. My son is 10 on September 10th. He can watch anything he wants, as long as there is not graphic sexual scenes or nudity. That said he mostly watches Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and MTV. We love the Rob Dyrdek show it is so funny. I love the funny jokes in cartoons that are aimed at adults that my son doesn't get. He is also allowed to listen to any music he wants, Eminem is his ringtone on his cell phone, and play mature rated video games, as well as online games where he chats with others. Now, I bet you have a picture of me and my son. Well, you can toss that away, because you are most likely very wrong. My son is in the gifted program in school, he is exceeding in every subject, teachers constantly label him a leader, a role model, dedicated, and a hard worker. He is always being awarded at assemblies at schools. He participates in the GREEN team, is a conflict manager, student counsel, track, and more. Who would have thought that a kid allowed to do so much could be these things, too? I will tell you how. We watch shows together and we discuss them and the consequences of behavior in real life, compared to TV or games. There is nothing he can't come to me and ask what it means. I would much rather him hear a true answer and in appropriate wording, than a buddy telling him. And by over protecting your kids you are just making them want it more. We have a good friend that we do things with often. I know she is more protective of her son than I am. He has come to our house for at least 2 years and played war type games. Then one day we were discussing kids and she mention that her son could not play war games. Uh-oh, I immediately apologized and told her that he had been at my house, but no longer would be allowed to. Next time I had him over to play, I told him that he should have told me he couldn't play those kind of games. You know what he answered?? "Oh, it's ok, as long as my mom doesn't know!" My point is when they are very little, protect away, but once they start school, it is time to be realistic and decide, is it better for you to teach them about things or their buddy? Regardless they will learn and hear it all somehow, you did, didn't you? Oh, and each to their own, this is just my opinion and personal experience.

Thank you! We do the same thing. As they get older they will find out information and TV usually has nothing to do with it. Children talk and someone always has an older brother or sister who "knows". Not that the older brother or sister talk to the younger kids, but the friend with the older sibling shares information s/he heard from their sibling.

We monitor what they do and spot check phone, computer and xbox accounts. If you don't know how to do this, become friends with a techie, they are more than happy to help. My children know that I will find out everything- and if I do- severe consequences.

TV has never been banned- they know, like books, a lot of TV shows are not real. DS watches Animal Planet, Disney, SyFy and some Nick. He is 11, but has been watching those channels for years. DD prefers Disney and Nick. They also know what is acceptable behavior, if they do act up- which children will do- there are consequences. I though do not blame TV for the behaviour, I put the blame squarely on our shoulders. If I take credit for the good, I have to take blame for the bad!

 

[Ceila]

I had to sign up just to reply to this. My son is 10 on September 10th. He can watch anything he wants, as long as there is not graphic sexual scenes or nudity. That said he mostly watches Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and MTV. We love the Rob Dyrdek show it is so funny. I love the funny jokes in cartoons that are aimed at adults that my son doesn't get. He is also allowed to listen to any music he wants, Eminem is his ringtone on his cell phone, and play mature rated video games, as well as online games where he chats with others. Now, I bet you have a picture of me and my son. Well, you can toss that away, because you are most likely very wrong. My son is in the gifted program in school, he is exceeding in every subject, teachers constantly label him a leader, a role model, dedicated, and a hard worker. He is always being awarded at assemblies at schools. He participates in the GREEN team, is a conflict manager, student counsel, track, and more. Who would have thought that a kid allowed to do so much could be these things, too? I will tell you how. We watch shows together and we discuss them and the consequences of behavior in real life, compared to TV or games. There is nothing he can't come to me and ask what it means. I would much rather him hear a true answer and in appropriate wording, than a buddy telling him. And by over protecting your kids you are just making them want it more. We have a good friend that we do things with often. I know she is more protective of her son than I am. He has come to our house for at least 2 years and played war type games. Then one day we were discussing kids and she mention that her son could not play war games. Uh-oh, I immediately apologized and told her that he had been at my house, but no longer would be allowed to. Next time I had him over to play, I told him that he should have told me he couldn't play those kind of games. You know what he answered?? "Oh, it's ok, as long as my mom doesn't know!" My point is when they are very little, protect away, but once they start school, it is time to be realistic and decide, is it better for you to teach them about things or their buddy? Regardless they will learn and hear it all somehow, you did, didn't you? Oh, and each to their own, this is just my opinion and personal experience.

It sounds like you have a very good relationship with your son. I just wanted to comment on two things.

First, I just have to say that it is very possible to have an open and honest relationship with your kids even if you don't allow them to watch anything they want. While there are certainly extremes to being protective, you seem to be saying that most limits are counterproductive to having honest kids. I strongly disagree with this and would certainly hold my own children up as that example. We're not as strict as some on here, and we're more strict than others. But that has no bearing on the kind of relationship we have with our kids. They know we have certain restrictions, but they also come to us with problems and questions, and they know they'll get honest answers.

Second, I think you were remiss in allowing a then-8-year-old child to play war games, especially if you knew his parents were stricter than you. Most war games are not rated E, so if you were allowing him to play anything that was rated for above his age you should have asked his parents first. Whether he told you he was allowed or not, that's the kind of thing you should double check with the parents.

I really believe that different things are right for different families (we tell our kids this all the time), and I don't think it's fair to think that our way is the only way.

 

[Kellybelly777]

This was an interesting thread for me to read being a kid myself (13)

My parents have never really banned any TV or movies or anything so I grew up watching Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and things like Full House.

Now, of course, I like different things, like teen nick or MTV rather than say... Hannah Montana. Looking back, I agree, a lot of the kids on those shows are rude, self centered and often look down on others. They were the same when I was a kid. Has this effected me? No. I simply watched the shows for entertainment. If the shows "inspired me" in any way, it was making me want to live in a hotel like Zack and Cody or be a secret singer like Hannah. Even today, after watching R rated movies or Jersey shore type reality shows, do I suddenly want to spend every night clubbing and hitting on random guys? Not at all. It really just hasn't changed my feelings or morals. Just wanted to put that all out there

 

[my3squeals]

Suite Life -- either series. I think that there is just too much sassiness on that show, plus there is more relationship stuff than I find appropriate for my daughters.

We feel the same way! I hate that show. The mother is non-exisent and they make the men look just plain stupid. We despise shows were the kids are smarter than the adults and the attitude that comes with it.

 

[karice2]

We have "banned" Good Luck Charlie and Chowder

I love Chowder. "I'm not your boyfriend"

 

[karice2]

I don't have any kids yet but thought this was an interesting thread. I didn't have any shows banned when I was a kid, up to and including MASH, Hill Street Blues and that weird show Twin Peaks.

I learned how to read at 3. Really read, not Dr. Seuss read so I usually read instead of watching TV. As i got older, it got to be pointless to ban shows for me because I would just read something that was far more inappropiate or look up words I didn't understand. So my parents figured if I could read it someplace then I could certainly hear it on TV.

All of that being said I didn't smart talk my parents because I was scared of them. I never got a spanking or a beating in my life. I was just scared to emulate any of the stuff that I saw on tv. I knew better because I was scared of them. I knew not to interrupt their conversations, I knew the world did not revolve around me and I knew that certain behaviors would not be tolerated EVER.

Yes the kid shows are horrible today. I had good cartoons like He-man and She-Ra but Degrassi has been around forever and the after school specials always made me laugh. The point is, if your kids fear you from an early age, they will not smart mouth you or say inappropiate things and embarrass you or flail about the store because they don't get their way.

Worked for my parents, now they are my best friends. I am still a little afraid of my grandma though.