Having the boy/girl twins and only one TV (I KNOW, RITE?!?) everything has always been a compromise in my house as far as who watches what when. My kids are just as likely to watch so-called 'boy' shows as they are 'girl' shows. My daughter watches Transformers and Batman and one of her absolute favorites is Teen Titans. My son watches, with a bit more reluctance, some of the girl shows that my daughter likes. And of course if they're in the room when I'm watching CSI you'd better believe I'm not shielding them from the gore, because I'm mean like that. ;)
And yet, despite all this? My daughter is a very girly girl who likes frills and dresses and pink, and my son is a boy who likes Batman and cars and Transformers and pretending to blow things up. What does this say about my family? I have no idea.
On the other hand, my sister has a son my kids' age who has grown up sheltered from most of the world - she won't even let him watch the TV news because it might be too scary. That kid is seriously messed up.
Um. Yeah, I don't know that this has anything to do with your post, actually. I'll just slink away now.
Lol! Well, I mostly agree with you. I do think one has to keep an eye on what kids are watching because kids are sponges and what goes in, stays in and grows/festers. One of my nieces is super sensitive and when we she was younger we had to keep a close eye on what she saw to make sure she didn't end up with night terrors (which she would get all the time). We actually showed her StarWars a little too soon and she was hardly able to sleep for a month. XD My oldest niece though isn't like that at all. She watched all 3 StarWars movies and only freaked out at the parts where Vader cuts off Luke's hand (mostly she was disturbed that it was his "daddy" that had hurt Luke. She had trouble wrapping her head around a father being able to hurt his own child like that) and where Luke had a vision of Vader and cuts off his head only to find his own face under the helmet. However, after pausing the movie and discussing what had happened, she was ok again (I'm a biiiig advocate of discussing disturbing issues a kid has seen with them. You can't shield them from everything or they end up unable to create mental shield against disturbing stuff, but talking about it helps them to file the issue cleanly away mentally and in order to create these shields without the actual issue coming up to bother them later.) However, my sister has totally taken protecting her kids to the EXTREME. She wont even let them watch "fantasy violence" ie, things rated Y7 and up, which is RIDICULOUS. Her kids are 9 and 10 for heaven's sakes! Lol, personally, ~I~ like don't watch the news myself 'cause I think its too violent for ~my~ tastes (mostly its knowing that people can be so cruel to one another that makes me physically ill), but going so far as to not allow a 4th and 5th grader to watch Y7 shows is lunacy, imho, especially when the TV shows don't bother them emotionally. >
Well, yeah. I don't let them watch CSI on their own, for instance. :P And I talk to them about what they see on the occasions they watch it with me, so they're not just absorbing the gore in a vacuum. My daughter tends to be a bit sensitive, but she handles the explanations remarkably well. My son just thinks it's interesting and cool. You know, sometimes I worry about that kid. Huh.
But yeah, I get where you're coming from. Y7 shows are made for their level, so it's not like they're getting bombarded by disturbing imagery that they can't handle. And like you said, that's when you talk to them about what they've seen. But I also don't believe in shielding them from all the big bad that's out there, because that's not doing them any favors, either.
And yet, despite all this? My daughter is a very girly girl who likes frills and dresses and pink, and my son is a boy who likes Batman and cars and Transformers and pretending to blow things up. What does this say about my family? I have no idea.
On the other hand, my sister has a son my kids' age who has grown up sheltered from most of the world - she won't even let him watch the TV news because it might be too scary. That kid is seriously messed up.
Um. Yeah, I don't know that this has anything to do with your post, actually. I'll just slink away now.
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But yeah, I get where you're coming from. Y7 shows are made for their level, so it's not like they're getting bombarded by disturbing imagery that they can't handle. And like you said, that's when you talk to them about what they've seen. But I also don't believe in shielding them from all the big bad that's out there, because that's not doing them any favors, either.
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