Parents - The Television Police

Do you ever feel like this? That you have to make sure the shows your children are watching are appropriate, even if they are on some of the major children networks. As my children have grown we have always monitored what shows they watch. A few years ago my son was watching a popular television show for kids (one of those fighting ones). I had decided that day to sit down and watch it with him, to get an idea about the show and any others he was watching. The show was fine to start with (a little lame) and it was about halfway into the program when the adult on the show said that it was okay to lie occasionally, as long as it wasn't a big lie. I was shocked, the show got immediately shut off and it was banned from being watched in our home. We also let our family members know what had been said and they banned it also.

When our children are watching cartoons, you think that it will be an okay show to watch, that you shouldn't have to monitor it because after all it is a cartoon. Over the years, we have come to ban a few shows because of the attitude the characters have on it. One is that it is okay to lie, another one was that it was okay to pee your pants, and another just because of the way they treated the adults on the show (that they were stupid).

My children haven't felt deprived because they can't watch certain shows, even when they go to their friends houses and they want to watch the show, my children come home. We are trying to instill a sense of moral right and wrong in our children and if banning television shows helps in that endeavor, we will continue to handle it the way we have been. The most important part of parenting is consistency, without it you will lose control of your children. And it is our job as the parent, to make sure they go down the path they are meant to go down. If by being careful what they watch and hear does that, then I will continue to monitor everything they see and hear.
Next time I will talk about the music that children listen to and how it affects them.

Enjoy your teenagers, they are only with you for a couple of more years.
Thanks
Patti