Dads: what cartoons does your 4-7 year old watch?

[kstar]

On my, underpants, severed sponge parts and the burning of a crab's head . . .

Also, the drug induced animations and many references to homosexuality are obvious.

I don't think this is acceptable for PPOT.

[nostatic]

Squidward can be cranky and probably uses horrific language like "stupid" and "idiot."

I find it a little nuts that those words would be verboten, but it is funny when a 3 year old says "*****".

Wasn't there some evangelical preacher who was railing against SpongeBob a little ways back?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by kstarnes

On my, underpants, severed sponge parts and the burning of a crab's head . . .

Also, the drug induced animations and many references to homosexuality are obvious.

I don't think this is acceptable for PPOT.

Acceptable? I think we're going to start requiring it!

[the]

(I have to caution parents - there is some brief semi-nudity at the :07 mark in the video, which may not be suitable for children under the age of 14. There is also some violence, including Plankton being buried alive in sand, and some pyrotechnics that may shock the system of some viewers. Oh, and silly dancing, too).

[the]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Wasn't there some evangelical preacher who was railing against SpongeBob a little ways back?

I didn't want to raise that, but I suspect that may be behind some of the posts here. That would explain why several forbid the show in their house, but have obviously never really seen it.

[the]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Wasn't there some evangelical preacher who was railing against SpongeBob a little ways back?

[kstar]

"They" smeared this little Tubby too.

[kstar]

Originally Posted by the

This issue reveals more about the offended than it does about the subject, IMO.

Best,

Kurt

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by the

I didn't want to raise that, but I suspect that may be behind some of the posts here. That would explain why several forbid the show in their house, but have obviously never really seen it.

If anything that would cause me to watch a few episodes, not avoid it.

I'm not 'offended' by SB. I'm not 'afraid' of it. preschoolers don't need help learning how to ostracize others with words like 'stupid' and 'idiot'.

It's interesting to see that it burns some of you so much that the only way you can reconcile intelligent people avoiding such programming is to call them 'extreme' and associate them with lunatic evangelistic preachers.

I think the parents in this discussion are all looking for the same result and all of us choose a place to draw the line. I think what i'm doing is responsible parenting (even though it seems some of you now think i'm an entertainment nazi that will have my son watching G movies when he's in high school) but hey, it's my first time so i could be wrong. Of course some of you could be wrong as well. We're not talking about creating mass murderers here, just better behaved little kids. Little kids that have one less character telling them that 'stupid' and 'idiot' are okay to use.

Some of you need to understand that the mind and social habits of a 3yr old are not the same as yourselves. Adults can (usually) filter fantasy from reality and can comprehend life lessons illustrated in seemingly undesirable tv shows. 3yr olds aren't always going to get this.

Case in point: my 3yr old loves max and ruby. i like the pace of the show but it is a bit irritating when he looks at me and says 'snack'. I have to remind him to use his manners and THEN i get 'daddy can i have a snack please?'. but of course according to 'the' and some of the others here my 3yr old should be getting the fact that max's behaviour is less than stellar.

Sure. Right.

[kstar]

That's "Daddy may I have a snack, please"

Poor grammar taught to a 3 year old can last a lifetime.

J/k, of course.

Bad behavior on the part of fictional characters can provide an excellent opportunity to teach young ones, YMMV.

Best,

Kurt

[the]

Originally Posted by berettafan

blah blah blah 3yr old blah blah blah

I take it your 3 year old is your oldest?

[berettafan]

As mentioned he is my ONLY. I don't claim to be a super parent and the results of my (and my wife's) parenting choices remain to be seen.

I don't see any compelling reason to allow my son to watch SB.

[Nathans_Dad]

To answer the question about pre-school. Yes, 2 of my 3 kids go to pre-school and the youngest one will too when she is old enough. Yes, they get exposed to various words and actions at pre-school and yes we correct them when they repeat those words and actions.

Here's the thing for me. I can't control what my kids hear at pre-school. I can't control what their friends might say or do. What I CAN control is what I allow them to watch in my house. I still cannot see any reason why I should voluntarily expose my kids to a program that doesn't model the behavior that I think is appropriate for them 100% of the time, especially since there are a ton of kids programs out there that do a better job, IMHO, than Sponge Bob. You can talk about how loving Sponge Bob is and how silly he is, that's great. The bottom line is that the characters on Sponge Bob DO verbally abuse each other and DO sometimes resort to fighting to resolve their differences. It might be only 5% of the time, but you NEVER see that behavior on a show like Little Einsteins. In addition, the kid gets exposed to Mozart, Bach, Picasso, etc instead of a pineapple under the sea.

And yes, my kids do get corrected when they use words like stupid, idiot, pooty head, butt face, etc which are in the vocabulary of most 5 year olds. Call me a Nazi if you want, I am the one that has the responsibility of raising my kids the way I think they should be raised, not you.

[berettafan]

I'll add to Rick's comments the following: How do you think the other kids at preschool are coming up with rude names and such? By keeping my son away from such things i am not adding to the problem UNLIKE other parents who just turn the box on and walk away.

Slacking on the part of other parents is NOT an excuse to slack yourself.

[the]

Newbie, inexperienced parents tend to be over-reactionary and over-the-top on things like this. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure (really) that you are fine parents now - just like you'll be fine parents down the road as you gain experience and your viewpoints and techniques moderate a bit.

[kstar]

I would add that, IMO, a large amount (most?) of the negative stuff kids pick-up comes from parents, not cartoons or TV shows. An overheard curse word, an angry reaction, an emotional phone call, an unreasonable position or countless other things that "us" parents may do, unaware that our kids are soaking up every nuance and detail.

Best,

Kurt

[Nathans_Dad]

Originally Posted by the

Newbie, inexperienced parents tend to be over-reactionary and over-the-top on things like this. Nothing wrong with that. I'm sure (really) that you are fine parents now - just like you'll be fine parents down the road as you gain experience and your viewpoints and techniques moderate a bit.

Geez, again with the over the top and condescending tone....maybe you learned that from Sponge Bob...

Obviously you are of the opinion that if someone else parents their child more strictly than you do, they are newbie and over reactionary. God forbid you might consider that other people do things different ways and THAT'S OK.

[the]

It is not an opinion that one who has one child, 3 years old, is a newbie parent. That's a fact.

It also isn't highly disputed that most good newbie parents tend to be over-reactionary, esp. when compared to how they will be when they have been a parent for 10 years or so.

A first child 3 year old is going to be treated a lot differently than a 4th child 3 year old. For example, a parent who fretted over something like Spongebob with his first 3 year old isn't likely to be bothered by it when he has a 12, 8, 5 AND 3 year old. This moderation comes from experience.

[Nathans_Dad]

I disagree. I have 3 kids, ages 5, 3, and 6 months. My 6 month old will also not get to watch Sponge Bob at the age of 5. Nor will the 4th kid if we choose to have a 4th...

I has nothing to do with being "newbie".

[the]

With all your kids still 5 or under, you're still a newbie parent. Those are all still babies.

You don't know what your 6 month old will be watching 4.5 years from now. Your views on parenting can and will change over the next half decade, as you gain more experience.