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At_His_Feet
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| Posted: Nov 10 2008 at 6:22pm | IP Logged
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I am considering limiting or completely stopping my dc watching kids movies on the week ends. At present we allow them to watch one movie on Saturday, and sometimes children's television programmes in the afternoon.
I've been thinking these type of movies/programmes would probably be defined as twaddle by Miss Mason. I've noticed that some of the expressions my children have picked up from movies etc, make them sound more like yobbos than well educated liturature loving children.
I know that if I tell my dc that we will no longer be watching Disney, Pixar etc, that I may well have a mutiny on my hands.   My boys LOVE the box!
I am wondering how others feel about this subject. Do you just allow them to be kids like all the rest, or do you only allow literature type movies in your home?
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Tricia
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cornomama4
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| Posted: Nov 10 2008 at 11:10pm | IP Logged
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The "special treat" movies my boys (7&8) watch are "The Way Things Work" videos, Magic School Bus episodes on tape and various animal videos. Their TV shows are WowWow Wubbzy, Oswald (because this is what the toddlers watch when mommy needs to get something done) and How It's Made (plus The Riffleman episodes w/ dad, but that's another story!) They had a brief encounter with Aladdin and watched Finding Nemo once, but found that to be troubling in the "attitude" department. I feel my brain-washing has been very effective  DS8 actually asked the receptionist to turn off Shrek 3 in the waiting room at the doctor's.
If you think something isn't good for your kids, then don't give a flying fig about what "everyone else" is doing. Just decide that they'll either watch what you deem appropriate or will watch nothing. *In our home* (not to judge others) we have no game system, but the boys do play games on the computer, usually Lego related or the current fave of boys and mom, Bookworm Adventure. My 7yo knows that snook is word and also knows that you get more points for spelling words with plural ending or suffixes, like boost could be boosts, boosting, booster, boosted, etc. (that's English for HS right? )
Please don't be intimidated by the media-induced pressure to have your kids be like "all the rest". Sometimes it's hard to stick to your guns (that reminds me, I need to go gun shopping before January) but less is more as far as their secular influences go! Plus, wouldn't you rather they learn the guitar solo from Freebird from you than Guitar Hero?
BTW, what is a yobbo? Is it a combination Yokel and Hobbo? I'm really looking for an alternative for "hilbilly" in casual conversation. Good luck!
cm4
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aussieannie
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| Posted: Nov 10 2008 at 11:16pm | IP Logged
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EWTN is our big help here! They have great shows for children, it has been our best investment in closing the front door on the culture around us, because it surprising just how greatly WE are affected by it too!
We love our classic videos, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, all sorts of Jane Austens, our 3 oldest (13 - 9year olds) really get great enjoyment from them and it forms their minds well I believe.
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Red Cardigan
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| Posted: Nov 10 2008 at 11:32pm | IP Logged
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I think "fun" movies are a little like candy. My sister once had a friend who was never allowed candy at home, with the predictable result that when she reached the age of beginning independence she would stop by the drug store and buy a one pound bag of M&Ms and consume them during the school day.
Too much candy is bad for you, and too many movies of "little socially redeeming value" would likewise be bad. But making such things into "forbidden fruit" often increases, rather than decreases, a child's fascination with these things, and makes them pay even closer attention should they see one playing on a TV in the store, or at a friend's house, or in a similar location.
As children mature these movies quickly lose their appeal, anyway. DVDs my girls *loved* a few years ago are now only brought out when the youngest one really wants to see one; the other two often find something else to do. In addition some of these movies have already been traded in at the used book store, and I think that's going to continue as they get older.
I was a Lit. major, and I still love curling up with a great classic; but I've also always enjoyed Agatha Christie mysteries and other light reading. Movies are the same way: even as adults we sometimes want to immerse ourselves in a great film, pondering on the shadows of meaning and artistic qualities before us--but every now and then some lesser piece may entertain us for an afternoon--and there's nothing wrong with that.
I think your current limits sound quite reasonable. Perhaps you could select one Saturday a month to show some more serious work that is appropriate for their age (e.g. one of the classic lives of the Saints films or some such thing) and watch and discuss it with them? They might come to prefer these Saturdays and even request them on a more frequent basis.
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At_His_Feet
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| Posted: Nov 11 2008 at 3:17am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the replies thus far. I like the one Sat. a month idea.
A "yobbo" is Australian slang for someone who is uncouth. You know the type, bad manners, drives hotted up cars and isn't too interested in good grammar! Now you'll have to explain the guitar reference to me. 
So would you classify modern childrens movies as twaddle, or just good fun. I know it's difficult to generalise.
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Tricia
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JeniferS
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| Posted: Nov 19 2008 at 10:27pm | IP Logged
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At_His_Feet wrote:
So would you classify modern childrens movies as twaddle, or just good fun. I know it's difficult to generalise. |
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I think it varies. Some movies are most definitely twaddle. Whereas I think some other movies are just good relaxing fun.
Shows that I like my children to watch:
Crash Bang Splat
Fetch With Ruffman
Peep
Time Warp Trio
Animated Stories of the Bible
Hermie & Friends
(some of these can be found on tv. some can be bought as dvd).
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Barbara C.
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Well, the problem is that most modern "children's" movies are not really made for children at all. They are really made for adults to bring children, if you know what I mean. I think Shrek kind of started this trend.
But it doesn't mean that there aren't any good modern movies, you just might have to work a little to find them. And this is something that you and your kids could talk about. For instance, sometimes my kids will really want a toy for their birthday or christmas. I'll look up reviews for the toy and sometimes find out a problem with the toy I would have never considered, so then we talk about how maybe this wouldn't be a good choice.
And one litmus test I give modern children's movies is looking at their reviews. Curious George got horrible reviews because it wasn't entertaining enough for parents and adults without children, but that was a great movie for kids.
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sarahb
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| Posted: Nov 20 2008 at 3:48pm | IP Logged
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We all adored the Shrek movies and Im a firm believer in a little entertainment for its own sake.
Pixar movies we have enjoyed very much are the Toy Story series.
I cant see that Miss Mason has much to offer me if she intends for my children to eschew such harmless sweet fun as those movies.
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organiclilac
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| Posted: Nov 20 2008 at 4:05pm | IP Logged
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We do like the Pixar movies, as they have been very clean compared to the other children's movies that have come out in recent years. However, we are trying to minimize the time ds spends watching those types of movies and watch more educational movies instead. We loved the Planet Earth and Blue Planet series, and we are working through another BBC series on Africa. Of course, I told him that he could watch Jurassic Park tonight, so I guess I'm not as strict as I'd like to be! (It did inspire him to work on a complex dinosaur design out of K'Nex all day, at least!)
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BrendaPeter
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I know of a very holy priest who frequently says "Nothing good has ever come from Hollywood". Of course that is a bit extreme, but when we recently watched "A Man for All Seasons" for the 2nd time I was shocked to realize that it contains a blasphemy. After hearing that, I'm very reluctant to recommend the movie to anyone let alone watch it again.
An excellent movie that we recently saw was "Akeelah and the Bee". I was thrilled to finally see a modern movie that had so many positives but, of course, it had to have that 1 token swear word for the PG rating.
So at this point, we've totally banned twaddle. We rented a few old Disney movies ("Shaggy Dog", etc.) for awhile but the little modernist comments here & there did not sit well with dh & me. Also, we were pretty shocked by all the s*xual innuendos in "Cars". So these days we watch (from Netflix) movies about the saints (the new ones are not perfect though) and the Church or science. We watch at the most 2 movies/month if we even have time to squeeze them in.
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sarahb
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I live in a modern world and I want my children to be well rounded and comfortable in it. So Im not interested in completely culling all modernity or even all blasphemy from our lives. We recognize what we dont care for, discuss it and why its not appropriate, and move on.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Screen twaddle
