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As a kid apart from some kid tv and movies we all watched Peyton Place (sex, deception, infidelity, sex), I Dream of Jeannie (loaded with sexual innuendo), F-Troop (about GI's in a concentration camp), ..
I will admit to being a bit whacky, but all those shows were just a small part of my childhood.
Zimbo I think you meant Hogan's Heroes, not F-Troop. But that show illustrates a point. It was a comedy about GI's in a German POW camp in WWII. The whole country watched it. Huge hit. And I never saw a single episode. My dad had friends who had been POW's in both Japan and Germany and he didn't think there was a single thing that was funny about what they endured. So we never watched it.
And that lesson is: If you don't want your kids watching it, don't allow them to watch it. The parent is the boss, not the 8-year old. Even though it was a show everyone talked about and I didn't know Colonel Klink from Colonel Clunk, I somehow managed to survive. And Zimbo survived watching it, lol!
Zimbo I think you meant Hogan's Heroes, not F-Troop. But that show illustrates a point. It was a comedy about GI's in a German POW camp in WWII. The whole country watched it. Huge hit. And I never saw a single episode. My dad had friends who had been POW's in both Japan and Germany and he didn't think there was a single thing that was funny about what they endured. So we never watched it.
And that lesson is: If you don't want your kids watching it, don't allow them to watch it. The parent is the boss, not the 8-year old. Even though it was a show everyone talked about and I didn't know Colonel Klink from Colonel Clunk, I somehow managed to survive. And Zimbo survived watching it, lol!
Yes, you are correct. I'm mixing up my military tv shows. Having a choice is a good thing. That type of show would never be made today.
That was in the early 90's.
You go and change stuff now those companies are going to lose their ratings and you know they won't do that because they'll lose their cool.
And you know Saved By The Bell......I NEVER see parents in that show.
Fresh Prince of belair, they were always doing stuff they shouldn't have been doing, sneaking around their punishments, and will and the youngest daughter always had attitudes.
Its nothing new.
Saved by the Bell had Mr. Belding, though. Sure, they made fun of him, but everyone knew that they respected him deep down. They also got in trouble by him. Zach's mom was on the show quite frequently. On Fresh Prince they also got in trouble by the dad, and they also respected the parents. There is a big difference between those shows and the shows that are on now. Kids will still watch those shows, too. I know loads of kids who love shows from those days. Saying that kids won't watch shows where the kids respect their parents and get in trouble is ridiculous.
Zimbo I think you meant Hogan's Heroes, not F-Troop. But that show illustrates a point. It was a comedy about GI's in a German POW camp in WWII. The whole country watched it. Huge hit. And I never saw a single episode. My dad had friends who had been POW's in both Japan and Germany and he didn't think there was a single thing that was funny about what they endured. So we never watched it.
And that lesson is: If you don't want your kids watching it, don't allow them to watch it. The parent is the boss, not the 8-year old. Even though it was a show everyone talked about and I didn't know Colonel Klink from Colonel Clunk, I somehow managed to survive. And Zimbo survived watching it, lol!
Agreed We could go on and on with shows we watched that weren't any better. How about Scooby Doo (all the adults ended up being criminals) and don't get me started on Gilligan's Island or Three's Company. When I came home from school each day these were pretty much the only thing on. At least kids today have choices.
This whole discussion reminded me of the Saturday Night Live skit a few weeks back, making fun of the Disney Channel. Hilarious. They called it the Disney School of acting and one of the things they taught was how to disrespect adults.
That's funny. I always will watch a show or movie myself before turning it on for my children. I thought all parents did that. Why would you simply turn a show on you've never seen before and walk away??
But I also recommend you start taking a peek at the books your kids bring home from the school library. You'll find almost all of them portray good old mom and dad as alcoholics, druggies, deadbeat dads, missing moms or just plain idiot parents who know nothing and need to be taught how to save the planet by their kids. The novels, btw, tend to be filled with lots of sex, violence and profanity as well as ends justify the means type crime. AntiChristianity is another theme woven into the plots. A lot of these books have sweet looking covers that would fool you until you actually start reading them. Very different than when I was in school. I was pretty shocked when my 10 y.o. dd started middle school and came home with some of these books, especially since we had always been very involved parents and were good about monitoring the TV, movies & computer.
I hope this isn't too OT, but I have to address the issue of books with the "missing" parents.
Although I do not disagree about some of the current teeny-bopper books filled with less than ideal parental examples, I have to say that from an historical perspective, most "classics" of children's literature feature at least one missing parent, and many times two. Although there may be an adult in the child protagonist's life, it is more often an aunt/uncle, guardian, teacher, or only one parent. Part of the explanation for this is that children's literature is often quest literature, and the main character needs to leave the security of home and family in order to mature.
Classics like "Tom Sawyer" and "Huck Finn", "The Little Princess" and "The Secret Garden", "Robinson Crusoe", "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", and "The Chronicles of Narnia" (which is a Christian series) all feature virtually parent-less children, to name but a few classics. The child learns to make his/her way through the world without the help of a parent. Even "Little Women" finds the girls without their father, as he is off to war; "Little Women" is actually quite a subversive book. More modern "classics" also employ this device--the "Harry Potter" series comes to mind. Even the "Twilight" series uses this to some extent (although I'm not sure it will be a classic!) I can only think of a few standards of children's literature that feature an intact family, with the "Little House" series being a prime example.
Many people erroneously believe that fairy tales are also good, clean reading for children, but the original tales are far from what we as a modern society would consider child-friendly. Again, in most of these tales, at least one parent is dead or missing. The tales are also quite gruesome...for example, in one of the more authentic versions of "Cinderella", one stepsister slices off her toes and the other slices off her heel in order to fit her foot into the shoe.
It seems that there is a belief that children's literature should be very plain and safe and free from difficulties or trials or scary things. Yet the books that have stood the test of time are often the ones where children have to overcome monsters, witches, step-parents, hunger and poverty, homelessness, etc.--in short, every kind of neglect, malice, and evil. These are the books that young readers are often drawn to because they help the child confront and manage his or her own innate fears.
I do believe that there is a difference between a rude pre-teen or older television show and a book that is well-written, thought-provoking, and intelligent. I monitor what my children watch, but it would take a lot for me to censor their reading, as long as it is age-appropriate and not complete trash or pseudo-porn.
Last edited by calgirlinnc; 03-21-2011 at 12:31 PM..
Look at The Secret Garden. Her parents pawned her off on her nanny and went to parties then died in an earth quake. And her cousin never left his bed and his mom was dead too.
That's funny. I always will watch a show or movie myself before turning it on for my children. I thought all parents did that. Why would you simply turn a show on you've never seen before and walk away??
I work from 9-5, as does my wife. My 17 yr. old son watches our younger children until we get home. And this is the same situation of many families today. So, we all can't always be there to filter out what our kids watch.
I was similarly shocked when I read a version of a children's bible. There was too much violence in it portraying only an angry, punishing God.
This was a CHILDREN'S BIBLE that would give preschoolers nightmares!
I remember Noah's Ark being a great childhood story about Noah's family and the animals being saved because Noah was good and the animals were innocent.
This children's bible focused more on God killing everyone in a flood because he was ANGRY.
Yep, definitely pay attention to what you're children see and hear. Not just TV, read that children's bible and pop in on Sunday school classes too!
IDK, the crucifixion is also pretty traumatic...maybe that should be left out of bibles for young people.
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