Kids growing up to fast

[Clover Heart 978]

I wouldn't have a problem with a kid watching King of the Hill. It's a pretty benign show.

 

I think it can pretty much be agreed that these things shouldn't be viewed by kindergarten audiences and younger. I think that's the real line. When you get into younger elementary, though, it really varies person to person.

 

I have a younger cousin. When she was little, she really enjoyed horror movies. At first, she found them scary, but at an age where she was starting to learn to figure out what's reality and what's fantasy, realizing that the things in the TV can't get her put her at ease, and she enjoyed watching them. She's 13, now. She's not messed up. She's not afraid of the world. She's fine, and actually, probably more well-adjusted for it. Does that mean that it's okay for all kids to watch horror movies? No. There are some kids who would be too sensitive to watch them, and there are some kids who might get the wrong ideas. But if you are the kind of kid who can handle watching horror movies, why should you be kept from watching them?

 

The same goes for adult-aimed cartoon shows. I watched some of those shows when I was that young. I'm not screwed up for it. As much as adults have a tendency to fail to realize the intuitiveness that children can have, they also have a tendency to fail to realize their naivete. I remember watching shows like that, and not really thinking much of a lot of what went on in them. Re-watching them now, I can see innuendos and jokes that I didn't even realize were jokes when I was that age. Hell, even when I was a kid, the cartoons that were aimed at us were rife with innuendo and adult humor.

 

Read more...

 

You might be thinking "There's nothing wrong with keeping your kids from this kind of thing." Having been sheltered as a child, I have to disagree with this. There's a certain amount of exposure that kids should go through. That's not to say that kids need to watch things that they're not prepared to, but at the same time, they shouldn't be kept from if it they're ready for it based solely on their age. Being sheltered as a child kept me from being exposed to certain ideas. Being kept from exposure to certain ideas kept me from asking questions. Me not asking questions prevented dialogue between my parents and me. And that might have been what they wanted. I get that some of these issues are difficult to explain to kids. However, that doesn't mean they should be denied this knowledge and exposure. On top of that, there's a risk of alienation. When I was a kid, like I said, I was sheltered. I was always the kid who couldn't watch this show or that show. I was always the one who was out of the loop when I would go to school, and everyone was talking about last night's episode. Having two TVs in the house (and quickly learning the mastry of the "previous channel" button,) I secretly did watch some of the shows I was forbidden to. Sometimes, if it were possible, anyway. Being able to watch things like that let me feel included into what everyone else was doing. And I don't feel that watching those shows messed me up at all. Personally, I feel that if I hadn't watched those shows, I wouldn't have gotten some of the knowledge about the world that I did at that age (because, like I said, my parents taught me jack all.) Knowledge that without which would have caused even further alienation and isolation. Not that kids should be watching everything, but an adult-aimed cartoon every now and then isn't gonna kill 'em.

 

One thing I think it's important to take into consideration is what kind of child it is. Is this a child who can distinguish between fantasy and reality, or is it all kind of a blur to them? Do they act out what they see on TV, or do they just watch? These are important questions to think about when trying to assess the way your child interprets a TV show. If they just see it as TV, it might be okay to show them more mature things, as they've demonstrated that they have the maturity to watch them. If not, you should probably keep that from them until they're a little older.

 

The other thing I think is important is to have a dialogue with your children in the things they watch on TV, no matter what they are, but especially if you're going to show them something that might not be intended for their age group. If you talk to your kids and explain to them about the show, they can understand. And in this way, the things presented on TV have a context, and you have control to tell your kids how things actually are, instead of only as they're presented on TV.

 

I don't feel like this is a black or white issue. I feel that if you're going to allow your kids to watch things like that, you, as a parent, must be responsible for your child's reception of it. You have to be the one to make the judgement of whether or not this is okay for your individual child. You have to be the one to talk with them about it. You have to be the one to explain it to them. You have to be the one who sits down and watches it with them. However, if you're not prepared to do that, don't care to explain some more of the difficult aspects to talk about and in general, just don't give a crap, then I agree that those children should not be allowed to watch things like that.

 

Edited August 25, 2012 by Clover Heart

[Mushy Giant Friend 206]

My little sister, who is 6, watches Harry Potter with me. She doesn't watch the bits that are 'scary', such as Lilys' death scene in the first film. I just tell her that there's a scary part coming off and she walks out of the room. I have to say that her favorite scenes is all of the Quidditch matches!

[TheFabulousPony 102]

Totally know what you mean. There are kids here...well that don't even get to be kids. I saw 3 kids the other day that were like 10 and smoking cigarettes, swearing and picking fights with people. I was like....WTF man.. It saddens me..

[termenchecks 146]

No unsupervised internet for my kids until they're 7.

We'll see what I can do about that- assuming that the .KID top level domain goes through.

 

Seriously though, why hasn't that happened yet?

We could filter off 70% of the shit on the internet by having the main website domains that make sense to partition it.

 

These exist:

.COM

.NET

.ORG

.BIZ

.COOP

.AERO

.EDU

.GOV

.XXX

 

These SHOULD exist:

.KIDS

.MED

.SPORT

.POST

.MAIL

.WEB

 

And websites should adhere to them better.

 

don't you think someone is going to make www.cumdumpsterbitches.sport? the internet isnt safe for kids no matter what.

[SugarSprinkledFox 69]

THIS.

 

My parents let my little sister, that is 9 btw, play games that are like T and M. My sister is then like "so what? I can do whatever I want!" Boy when she says that I want to slap her in the face. I then explain to her about how vulgar the games can be and she says "I know I already saw it!".

 

God I can't believe my parents...

 

 

don't you think someone is going to make www.cumdumpsterbitches.sport? the internet isnt safe for kids no matter what.

 

 

I second this. When I get older I wont let my children on the Internet until they're 13. :|

Edited August 25, 2012 by Alexlicious

[Bronium 512]

Dunno, Maybe, It's a chance I'd rather not take y'know? Especially when the majority isn't exactly right all the time either. I would like to use all the hate on Bronies when they first revealed themselves as an example.

 

It's a chance I'm willing to take. Maybe we have two different perspectives and maybe I'll change when I have a kid (maybe) but as of right now, I'd rather tell my kid the truth if he thinks he's up to it.

 

Now, while TV and news and such probably aren't the sole factor, they might not be helping either

 

I'm not sure I can agree with that. I mean, as far as I know, I haven't read any studies about that and if one existed I would know (you wouldn't believe how much people hate television).

 

Now, let me clarify something here, I'm not saying media is going to make a child instantly go on a killing spree, but I think we all agree that what you experience and see as a child affects your personality and how you'll act when you're older.

 

Yes, but it might give a positive effect. I mean, I saw my dad hitting my mum and I detest when people hit women. Especially the physically weak ones (not that all women are weak).

 

The domino effect

 

See, the thing is, there's always environmental factors. See, stealing from that guy in that MMO might make him extremely mad and cause him to shout at the person stealing. This causes the child to feel bad and steal less (at least for some time). See, the domino effect might occur in a closed system, but growing up is not a closed system. It's as open as open can be.

 

But save the nitty gritty details for later.

 

But saving the nitty gritty details might, as you said, skew their perspective. For example, take your stork story. If I was told it was between people I love and I just had your word for it, what if someone was raped? Why is the lady still having a baby? Maybe the lady loves the man. Maybe it wasn't rape at all. (Possible train of thought).

 

I know you said that they'll tell them later on, but when is later to late? It's never too soon, though that's what we're talking about here.

 

, if not taught to the kid correctly, making sure they know what is and isn't right

 

Well, since your a responsible adult, make sure you teach them what's right and isn't right. I'm going for the whole truth here. And when you teach them, don't tell them what you think is right. Give them all the facts and let them decide. Tell them the emotional trauma a person who is cheated on goes through, and tell them the perspective of the cheater. Let the kid come to his own conclusion.

 

It's perfectly possible to have a fantasy world. I don't recall saying it wasn't... and maybe I'm missing a post of mine, but I can't seem to find where you would've gotten that idea from me. Actually, I think having a fantasy world is fine.

 

I'm not saying it's impossible to have a fantasy world. I'm saying it's not impossible to have one even with the knowledge of the world.

 

I also agree people should find happiness in this world, but there's nothing wrong with giving them a fantasy world either.

 

I may be misinterpreting you, but aren't you saying that you can't find a fantasy world with knowledge of the world?

 

 

I use the word truth because that's what it is. I mean, this is going beyond simply movies and video games and onto whether we should expose kids to violence and such. I mean, even telling a half truth is pretty much a lie. There are no varying degrees of truth. Just the truth.

 

I never said make kids ignorant of the truth...that's the exact opposite of what I'm saying.

 

If a parent is supposed to teach kids on how to react to the truth, aren't the supposed to tell the truth first?

 

I'm just going to state my main points since I can barely read what I wrote.

• If kids want to watch/see/learn something, let them do so. Let them learn about it. But make sure that the kid knows exactly watch he is about to see and make sure that if it's a movie/song/video game etc. that the media they just consumed is not representative of the real world/
• If you're going to tell a kid something about the world, tell them the whole thing and never save parts of it for later.

I have more but I can't think right now.

 

Also, if you wish to reply, reply in PM (if it's a reply to this, and not a general comment). This is becoming pretty spammy...if 3300 characters can still be considered spam.

[False Perception 482]

I was exposed quickly. However, I thought I knew what the generally accepted standard was, so I didn't really talk about it.

 

Turned out the standards were bullshit.

 

It's nice that most of the users of the site (or at least the 1st page) feel against this, so that when we have children of our own we can stop them and keep some sort of decency for another generation or two...

[Lolness The Hunt 39]

The solution is simpler than that. Parents shouldn't be letting little children on the internet in the first place. There you go.

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

This post has been redacted by the author.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Blue

[Titan Rising 2,156]

There is no such thing as innocence, it is a sugar coated protective lifestyle - a way for parents to have their children escape reality. This is not to say that I approve children [or anyone] watching these things [movies depicting sex/violence/etc for the sake alone of sex/violence/etc (as opposed to movies that use them for artistic/meaningful purposes)], but I don't believe that if a child watches "Saw" or learns about "Sex" or a few cuss words at an early age they're doomed to a cursed hopeless life.

 

As the average adult [in our current society] watches an "R" rated movie and may see plenty of sex/violence and hear obscenities there is no doubt that it is seen as an art form and a way to express a message. This is why adults are able to deal with these things - because they have more than likely formed their own ideals, are able to weigh them against what they see, and pull a deeper meaning or message out of the movie or whatever form of media it is. Other adults have not formed their own ideals, and in that sense I would say they are just as if not more prone to being heavily influenced by a form of powerful violent media than a child is.

 

Kids have more than likely not formed their own ideals (or they're weak) and as such they are much more impressionable. If they see a lot of this stuff they may become confused, and in that case there needs to be someone that can help them sort through it all and explain the message the movie was trying to convey or help explain to them the purpose of whatever was happening. I don't think there is anything in this world that a kid cannot deal with if it is explained to them in the right way by someone that they have faith in.

 

Now in the case of movies and media displaying violence for the sake of violence, sex for the sake of sex, etc... Solely for the sake of entertainment... These things have no meaning and I don't believe anyone can justify watching such things to themselves or others no matter what age they are. If I were to explain why some people watch or create such things I would tell a child the same thing as I would tell a grown man - it is a weakness of humankind.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Hollowshield

[rcollinz13 428]

Dang, second graders... That is just awful. Second graders shouldn't even know what pussy is let alone be able to talk about it without laughing at it.

 

When I was in second grade when we said pussy, we meant a pussy cat. I think this also one of the reasons that children are having children these days.

 

I may be only 17 but there is a very noticeable difference between people my age and kids 3 years younger. All these 10 year olds watching Jersey Shore and other BS that's on TV these days. I remember at their age I watched Pokemon, Hey Arnold, Arthur and all those 90s classics. I'm lucky I was raised in a small town with good standards. I tried to set a good example for my two younger sisters but then we moved to Athens, Greece. Big city, completely different life style and people. For example my cousins who lived there knew about all those things kids shouldn't know about at a young age. My 10 year old cousin has been talking about sex and all that and drinking coffee from the age of 6. Of course it always depends on family and environment.

 

I'm starting to lose hope in humanity. And I'm guessing it will only get worse. The best I can do is try and raise my children as best I can with the rules and philosophy my parents taught me.

 

Off topic: Wow, 8 replies before I answered. This thread is popular.

 

I still watch Arthur, I figured if I watch My Little Pony I could still watch Arthur even if I am 17 years old.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Six year olds dating??? I first dated someone when I was sixteen... IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS SIX OLD ENOUGH TO DATE?!

 

I'm almost twenty and haven't found a girlfriend yet.

 

born in 98 i ended up seeing and learning a lot of things kids should not know where i live meth is a popular drug and i have been offered it and weed many times and denied it when i was 10 are neighbor had his house raided because he had a meth lab in it one day when my wasn't home when i was 11 i was on newgrounds and found 18+ content and was freaked out not knowing what it was (some porn game) the next day i told my friend and he told what it was. i was still freaked out about it till i was 12. not only that girls my age all of them are whores there where 3 pregnant scares in my grade last year i was in 8th grade! A guy was even got motorboating his gf in the school bathroom during one of the classes

i can say from experience kids are growing up to fast in this generation

 

When I was in grade school there was a knocked up sixth grader.

 

But you said "Those kids will never know of a fantasy world (that every child should have)." Fantasy is not reality. Fantasy is a lie.

 

Everybody needs their own internal happy place, if they never know that fantasy that can be hard to have, that same fantasy also sparks creativity.

 

Also, if we kept in that world our whole lives, would it still be fantasy, or would the real world become like our fictional perfect one?

 

Granted, stuff should be known, but at certain ages, and from someone that that tell them the right way.

 

 

 

I never said that they shouldn't use their imagination. I'm just saying tell 'em how it is. Being told the truth doesn't mean you will be less imaginative. What about all the authors of the world, what about all the creators? Are you saying they have no idea of the world? Let me tell you, truth inspires creativity. It gives more reason to your work. It makes you want to send a message and not just make art for the fun of it.

 

 

And a great deal of those writers draw from their childhood fantasy's.

[caesar15 231]

I am 13, i lost my whole innocent thing wherein i was in 5th grade, but, I think that kids shouldnt be like that, they should be playing baseball with friends and no none of that crap, or when someone does say "oh you said a badd word!" instead of joining in on it.

[Bunny_San 103]

I personally think all of what you mentioned is a matter of absolutely SHITTY parenting. As a parent: My son watches kid appropriate TV. Mickey Mouse, Little einsteins etc. (and even THOSE, I have to go "Oh, he's behaving VERY badly isn't he James!" Re: Donald's tantrums -_-) He's TWO. He doesn't need to know about the evils of the world. And as he gets older, he won't NEED to know about them unless he should encounter them himself on his own in everyday life. As a good parent it's your job to shield your kids from the horrible things going on in the world so your kid can enjoy their childhood and not worry about every horrible thing happening around them. Hell, I've stopped watching the news on TV because I don't want to hear about all the awful sick things in the world.I have enough problems on my own TYVM. I honestly feel sorry for kids whose parents don't let them just be innocent little kids for as long as they can. It doesn't last forever, and honestly we as parents should do everything we can to make it last as long as we can.