Why is "Its for kids" being used as a cop out?

[A Black Circle 1,586]

I told an anti-brony once that the "it's for kids" excuse is abhorrent.

 

He responded with, "Well, you're a brony so you're biased."

 

Stupidest

F--ing

Excuse

Ever
Made.

[RainbowTashie 379]

Whenever someone has a somewhat dark or slightly mature idea for an MLP episode, its always shot down with "that won't happen because it's for little girls" or "its a kids show, it won't be real". To which I reply, why use target audience as an excuse. Yes, FiM is a kids show, so I understand there are certain boundaries put in place. But that shouldn't limit the show from tackling more complex or mature issuess (in which it has done before). Plus, you'd be supprised at what you can do in children's programing. Look at Adventure Time, Hey Arnold, Courage the Cowardly Dog, SpongeBob, and Rocko's Modern Life. All of which managed to get some mature stuff past the censors. I'm not asking for FiM to become some dark, gritty war show with guns and violence. But I would like it to embrace some mature topics a bit more.

Spongebob is dark even for me in some places so much so that i feel unnerved watching it.