Another Rant

Posted by danleone on October 8th, 2007 filed in parenting

I take great pride in the fact that I have shielded my children from the violence that is so prevalent on TV and the movies. The adults in the house avoid watching the news when the Baby Goats are around and I believe the best invention is the ability to pause live TV. Of course, I understand that they are still exposed to violence when I am not around, but I try so hard to create a safe place for them in this house. I also know that as they get older, I will have less control over that and perhaps that is how it should be. There has to be an age where knowing that there is good and evil in the world is appropriate.

Yesterday, all I wanted to do was watch the New England Patriots defeat the Cleveland Browns with my 10 year old son. How great is it when five of us, each with a bowl of popcorn in our laps, sit down in front of the TV, all set to watch football? Well the Leone Family Funtime was short-lived. Every single commercial break had a preview for some violent TV program or movie. I frantically searched for the remote in order to skip some of the images, but at some point, my oldest saw CSI commercials where a man shoots a woman and it appears he throws her into the ocean. He also saw previews for that vampire movie that is due out.

This was a 1:00 game!

It is amazing that I see some parents get all up in arms about sex on TV, but accept without question the graphic violence. I would prefer my son see a semi-exposed breast than a shot of a decomposed body

So the solution was to take advantage of the technology. We paused the live TV for 30 minutes and then we would watch the game as I fast forwarded through the commercials. This would have worked, except by the time this happened, all three goats finished their popcorn and began having light-saber battles in their room….completely uninterested in the game.

Question for BoMR (Both of My Readers): Do you care about exposing your children to violence on TV, whether fictionalized or real?  How do you deal with it?
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7 Responses to “Another Rant”

  1. Reasonable Robinson Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 5:56 am

    Exposing violence to children is wrong because they have not developed the social sophistication to judge the possible impacts and consequences for themselves and others. To deny that the constant drip of these images has no effect is to deny that we have receptive minds, which of course is ‘b.s.’ of the highest order. I would go as far as suggesting that there is ‘meta’ commercial conspiracy to pump this crap at us in order for us to feel bad and insecure in order that we then go and spend to make ourselves feel better. The motto being ‘ get ‘em whilst they are young’

    regards
    RR UK

  2. danleone Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 9:31 am

    Kristina @ americanmum.wordpress.com

    It helps for me that we choose to not have cable. The kids are forced to only watch PBS kids, which is violence free and (relatively) commercial-free. We also limit screen time, including tv, computer, and any video games, to 2 hours a day. Finally the hubby and I try our best to not watch disturbing stuff while the kids are awake. This has made it so the last time we watched the news was 2002. Thank goddess (or Al Gore?) for the Internet! By the way, I completely agree with you on the sex vs. violence images.

  3. danleone Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 9:33 am

    Kristina @ americanmum.wordpress.com

    And, what possibly are you doing up at 3-something in the morning, mister???

  4. sophie Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 9:40 am

    I would also choose a breast to a stabbing for the girls to see. One thing I have noticed is that along with the violence are commercials that are not really appropriate for children who don’t yet know about sex. “Erections lasting longer than 4 hours” is not a phrase I want to discuss with a child who doesn’t yet know what an erection is.

  5. danleone Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    RR – thanks again for your thoughtful comments. I try so hard to NOT be a conspiracy theorist, but sometimes it just seems impossible to avoid. I am on your side on this one.

    Kristina – Though we should probably move in the direction you are in, by not having a tv, we have taken great pride in the fact that we only have one tv in the house (granted a small house). By the way, you should know as much as I do that when you have children, you have to take advantage of every opportunity to enjoy our “frivolous” pursuits, like blogging. So, a midnight pee break became a chance to post. Plus, I am an insomnia. I love being up at odd hours (and of course, fall asleep in the middle of the day!).

    Sophie – The Eveready Erection is a topic I don’t want to discuss…even with ADULTS!

    Thanks all!

    Dan

  6. Avery Says:
    October 10th, 2007 at 6:25 am

    Well, we’re terrible. We let our son watch Spiderman and the Transformers, and he likes to play-act the fight scenes. But he is also the most conscientious kid I know. If he hurts someone accidentally, he immediately stops and asks if they’re okay, apologizes, and gives them a hug. This leads me to believe that he can handle it. If he were an aggressive child who didn’t know it was just play, and didn’t know when to stop, then that would be another issue. Every child is different.

    Great post!

  7. Karen Nguyen Says:
    January 9th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    I recently had a rage blackout over the very same thing and cancelled cable…about 8 months ago. I
    ll have to admit it was very difficult at first, but once we got through it, amazingly my children have started sleeping better and fighting less (the 2 left at home are 14 and 16) The violence manifests itself into their psyches..our solution was drastic, but well worth it.

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