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I became a dedicated night owl in that summer between 3rd and 4th grade when my brother told me that the Three Stooges came on after Johnny Carson.
Miraculously, I had been able to figure out on my own that if you drag a crosscut saw across a normal person's head, you're going to get a bunch of blood, bone, and brains, which is not funny. But if you drag a crosscut saw across Curly Howard's indestructible Stooge head, all you'll get is a saw blade full of bent-up teeth, which IS funny.
I had also been able to figure out (without personal experimentation) that it's only in cartoons that the force of gravity doesn't act upon you until you've finally noticed that you've run off of the cliff.
Touche'-----but then again, back then TV & movie writers knew how to tell good stories and didn't have to rely on sexploitation or demolition of cars & buildings to attract a brain-dead audience (that thought plagiarized from Ben Mankiewicz on TCM)
And we didn't have to wear helmets on bicycles back then either. We regularly played BB tag with our Daisy air rifles and bumper tag on our bikes. We also played tackle football in the concrete alleys. You couldn't get run out of bounds because you got piled into garage doors, concrete ash pits and steel fences. I had perpetual skinned knees & elbows from age 6 to age 14. We all survived and did pretty well in life.
We all got kicked out of the house after breakfast each day and not allowed back in until dinner time.
BTW- our school district was so poor that in high school we had to use the same car for drivers' ed and sex education class.
Despite the fact that *you* survived and did well, not every child did.
According to Bicycling Magazine, head protection standards first came about in the 1950s when car racer William “Pete” Snell died in a crash. His friends created the Snell Memorial Foundation, dedicated to helmet safety research. The first bike helmet was sold in 1975, and when their popularity grew in the 1980s, doctors began to notice that cyclists in the emergency room after a helmeted crash fared better overall than those who rode with naked noggins. By the late 90s, all helmets sold had to meet strict standards in accordance with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
"Between 1960 and 1990 the death rate for children aged five to14 fell 48 percent ... a growing share of the accelerating reduction in child mortality arises from a sharp drop in deaths from unintentional injury or accident."
Over the past three decades, child mortality has declined sharply in the United States. For children between the ages of one and four, the rate of death dropped 57 percent between 1960 and 1990. The death rate for children aged five to 14 fell 48 percent during that period. One reason for the decline is revolutionary developments in medicine. But a growing share of the accelerating reduction in child mortality since 1970 stems neither from medical advances nor from immunization campaigns, notes NBER researcher Sherry Glied. Rather, it arises from a sharp drop in deaths from unintentional injury or accident. Among children under five, deaths from these causes dropped from 44 per 100,000 children in 1960 to 18.6 per 100,000 in 1990. Among children five to nine, the mortality rate from injury or accidents fell from 19.6 to 9.8 per 100,000.
Now, thanks to Tom and Jerry, oldest grandson (aged 4 1/2) is fixated about "losing his teeth". Cartoon characters had that happen often, but seeing some poor dog's teeth pop out like popcorn totally freaked him, big time. I have to reassure him that being hit on the head or biting down hard WON'T make that happen. Teeth are fixated deep in his jaw bone to stay put. I showed him pictures as such. They won't fall out. And if it DID happen, we'd rush him to the dentist where the dentist could put them back. He still has baby teeth. I don't want him freaking out about this! I'm hearing at least five times a day, "What happened to the doggy's teeth?" Telling him, it's only a cartoon, doesn't cut it.
I don't understand why you're telling him his teeth won't fall out because he is going to lose his baby teeth. Just talk to him matter of factly about that and then change the subject when he starts asking about the doggy's teeth.
My daughter, rightly or wrongly, watched A LOT of Sponge Bob when she was little with no ill effects. But once I rented a Tom & Jerry video for her and in the middle of it she ran into the kitchen and hit me.
In any case, your grandson will be fine. But if it stresses him out to watch those cartoons, he doesn't have to watch them.
My husband and I are grandparents of our two year old grandchild. Until lately, it's been years since we've watched cartoons.
After listening to them and watching them for a couple of hours (off and on) the other day, we both agreed that cartoons and shows for kids of this day and age are SO cutesy, nicey-nice, everything and everyone is wonderful, and so darned politically correct, that it's sickening.
I almost went into a diabetic coma when Barney first came out.
I was raised on Looney Tunes, my older brothers had me spouting Marx Brothers one-liners before I even saw any of their films, and Jim Henson actually had a pretty off-beat sense of humor for a guy who barely talked above a whisper (according to Frank Oz).
After listening to them and watching them for a couple of hours (off and on) the other day, we both agreed that cartoons and shows for kids of this day and age are SO cutesy, nicey-nice, everything and everyone is wonderful, and so darned politically correct, that it's sickening.
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Amen!
Think about it: this generation that's doing the mass killings now are the ones who grew up with Barney, My Little Pony and The Tela-Tubbies. I'd go berserk too if that's all I was allowed to watch.
My Little Pony is from the Eighties. I had a whole herd of them, plus the castle.
Well, we've finally arrived. A post about children's cartoons being inappropriate for....wait for it....children.
This was my thought exactly.
I remember when our daughter was three or four she had some library book that had a story about a tree growing in the stomach of a child (or a bear? can't remember) because they ate a seed. Though it was a silly tale and meant to be absurd she was very upset by the idea that a tree could grow inside her if she wasn't careful when she ate certain foods with seeds. No matter how many times we explained she would still freak. It lasted for about 5 or 6 months and then she got over it.
Should I not have read a library book to my daughter? OP would probably be picketing the children's room at our library for exposing their child to such a heinous idea. The point is that you just never know what a kid will imprint on, and when they are little and learning about the world something innocent could end up making a big negative impression. But that is how they learn to cope with things that are strange, scary and unexpected-- by having these experiences. Depriving them of this makes for unprepared and neurotic adults dependent on mom and dad far longer than is reasonable.
I've never been a huge fan of cartoons but always been a very laid back parent when it comes to censure. My kids are now 17 and 20 and still sit down with my big geek of a husband and old teddy to watch the Three Stooges, Betty Boop any old cartoon tickles hubby.
On the flip side, we moved to Italy (hubby's country) when the kids were young and starting elementary school there. My husband would have them sit with him to watch Italian cartoons and kids shows to learn the language then would flip it to his favorite american tv shows like the Simpsons and Futurama to not only help him with translation and slang but motivate them to keep trying translation. Well they still pile up on weekends to watch the Simpsons and Futurama with him then will watch his old shows with him in his language for birthdays and father's day.
Is that the Huffington Journal of Medicine? Sure accidental deaths dropped among kids because seat belts came into general use. Please document that bicycle helmets had anything to do with it.
I don't know the stats for kids bikes, but for motorcycles, I can assure you that helmet use doesn't have any effect on death rate in MC accidents.
In regards the Snell endorsement, there are no standards; There are no tests. Helmet makers can put the Snell sticker on anything they want. It's one of the travesties of the helmet safety laws. Those laws exist because helmet makers want to increase their sales and insurance companies want an escape clause so they don't have to pay out on claims. Follow the money, as they say.
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