Horrid Henry at school but banned at home

[Chippychop]

I've banned hh at home because I can see it changes ds 6 behaviour even dd 2 starts blowing raspberries. Just found out they watch it at school during wet play. Do you think it is suitable or am Aibu?

YANBU It's banned in our house too and I binned the HH books that ds1 had been given.

I found out a few weeks ago that ds2's class have been watching Tracey Beaker during wet playtimes. That's also banned in our house. ds2 said he read a book instead of watching it because he knows he's not allowed to bless 'im.

My DSs (6 & 4) love it, if they are rude or copy stuff from it inappropriately then I tell them off, simple. At 6 they should know right from wrong etc and TBH there are worse things on TV.

Pretty much all the girls programmes like Hannah montana etc I would consider the same, kids being rude to each other/grown ups and having attitude etc and you get the same in RL as I am forever saying just because X has said or done that - you should know its not ok etc.

In saying that however, YANBU as it is entirely up to you what you allow your children to watch and really no one elses business.

I am of the other camp. I feel that this is a chance to learn that whilst we can read about it in a book that doesn't mean it is okay in real life. After all as adults we read about murder etc in crime thrillers. We can find things we don't want our children to do in most childrens books after all Danny the Champion of the World drives a car at 6 years old.
For many many children HH is the first book that really engages them and that they read for pleasure. For my DD it was TB at 6 years old she understands that not all children have a happy life.

We love reading Horrid Henry. I cried with laughter at the one where he sells his little brother as a slave. We read all of them on a wet camping holiday.

We love Horrid Henry in our house :o I might change my mind when DS is old enough to read them though.

It doesn't cause problems in my kids so I guess I can't relate.

Francesca Simon says succinctly that even very little kids can instantly understand the dynamics, that the parents have created most the problems with their obvious preference for Peter.

Think you sound controlling, tbh.

I think they are pretty good for engaging boys who maybe don't enjoy reading, I know it has helped many parents from this respect. No different to Roald Dahl really as they are quite naughty books!

DD (5) loves Horrid Henry. She always tries to emulate Perfect Peter and offers to clean the kitchen!

Just hope he doesn't come home with HH as a reading book when he's a little older then. DS1 has been reading HH the past week.

As someone very wisely posted above - just because you read it doesn't mean you can do it! Learn to guide your children accordingly.

We have a similar problem at school. DSs are not allowed to watch various cartoon fighting type things at home but i frequently pick them up from after school club and see them watching them there. Haven't said anything so far but want to.

We love HH in our house aswell.My kids don't copy any of his behaviour.

I don't think it needs to be banned, it opens up discussion about why the things Henry does are wrong. When DS was quite small he said Peter is too good and Henry is too horrible but the best thing to be would be somewhere in the middle - Henry doesn't get away with his silly schemes, his actions have consequences and children can learn things from it apart from blowing raspberries.

I think Perfect peters the brat tbh

None of the cartoon fighting programmes are actually that violent really so again it shouldn't be a major issue as children should still know how to behave properly and if they don't be told off for it, obviously unless the programme scares them or something which is different.

I really don't think you should shelter children too much as they need to learn their own boundaries and behaviour limitations. Without trying to starta whole new thread - its a bit like the fact that for years and years kids have been playing cowboys and indians etc and it hasn't made them into gang members or serial killers but for some reason we feel we need to not expose them to anything that isn't sweet and fluffy when in fact it doesn't necessarily help them at all!

HOWEVER If people do feel strongly about these programmes being shown at school then you should be able to speak to the school about it, I would if there was something I felt was unsuitable being shown.

I was going to start a similar thread about DD being allowed to paint her nails at preschool today. She is 3 and I don't let her wear nail varnish/make up at home. I didn't say anything but I felt it wasn't their decision to allow them to do it ifyswim.

I am on the fence with the books tbh.

Really? People really ban their kids from this?!

What about talking to children and setting an example with our own behaviour opening up conversations about behaviour and consequences?!

This is censorship gone crazy - take them to a street nearby they will see bad behaviour - what you going to do then? Not go out?

God - HH were the first books my eldest would read voluntarily so we have masses of them.

Also agree - they need to learn not to copy behaviour in books/on tv. Although am sure in most of these things there's quite a strong moral line - my dc's used to gasp and laugh at HH's naughtiness but knew not to do the same.

I love HH for the simple fact that it was the first proper book that I found DS reading to himself (aged 5 or 6) curled up on the sofa and continually laughing - so I knew he was "really" getting it.

Any book that gets a young boy to read alone without prompting is fine by me :)

I hate HH and wouldn't have it on when the DNs were visitng. So no, I don't think YABU at all.

It schools start banning things one parent doesn't like then there wouldn't be much they could use for wet play and things

Another voice in the don't ban camps - my DDs read HH from a very early age and they knew perfectly well that this was fiction and not to be copied, ditto the TV series.

They also read the Tracy Beaker books with no ill effects (but lots of really good discussions about why some children's lives were so different from their own). I think if you need to ban things to deal with certain behaviour you need some new parenting strategies.

DD loves horrid henry, and funnily (and luckily) enough, she only copies Perfect Peter! She learnt Frere Jacques from Horrid Henry when she was 3!! Can't fault the show if it teaches my daughter French!

We dont listen to music at home, and My DD 5 comes home singing Justin Beiber, and YMCA, she says it is on during choosing time.