That my children don't watch EE/Corrie/Emmerdale etc?

[crazygracieuk]

My children are 11,9 and 6.

They watch plenty of rubbish on TV but other children and parents seem surprised that they don't watch Eastenders, Corrie, Emmerdale, etc.

They've been perplexed when asked their opinions on story lines like who Kat is having an affair with.

Their usual TV viewing is programmes on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Nick etc.

I am ready to be told that soap viewing is normal at primary/first year at secondary but back in the 80s I watched programmes like Neighbours, Home and Away and Grange Hill which was aimed at kids.

Lives of fictional people? Well I suggest you stop using tbe internet 3monkeys and reading books, going to the theatre. Etc.....

I am loving all the soap snobbiness too.. always amazes me how people who profess never to watch them seem to know so much about them too

The Queen watches Coronation Street..

I wonder who all those millions of people are who watch the soaps as do few mumsnetters do.

We watch Corrie and whilst we may be working class we are all quite bright

If you go to work....lol

"Why would Shakespeare be banned? Usually to be found in school books"

A lot of posters claimed that they don't like the violence and "adult themes" in soaps. I'm simply asking whether that applies to all drama, in that case, or just soaps. Or are they more worried about chavs?

And, erm...I hope Shakespeare isn't found just in "school books" these days. Macbeth was certainly compulsory viewing when I was a young teenager, on stage if you were lucky, film for chavs like me . But there's no violence there.

Well unless you are watching Shakespeare on tv up to 5 times a week I don't think its quite the same thing. Not to mention the fact that kids wouldn't understand a word of that anyway.

I wasn't allowed to watch the soaps as a kid, when I was a teenager, maybe 14/15 I started watching EE. More to know what everyone else was talking about I think.

Now I can't bear soaps as they are constantly so depressing.

Strangely though I enjoy crime/murder/thrillers and they aren't exactly jolly...

People that don't watch soaps because they are chavvy are inutterable snobs.
I don't watch them because I find them depressing, I don't watch a lot of the 'great' dramas or classics for the same reason.
I view watching the telly as a lighthearted activity, though I watch the news regularly and even Any Questions. But I still watch X Factor and all the crappy crime American crime dramas.
We all have different tastes.

My dd (7) knows that I don't think soaps are suitable for children of her age, and that I think they're miserable, depressing programmes in any case. As a result, she looks terrified if she so much hears a beat of the eastenders theme tune - like it's going to instantly corrupt her, or something.

The brainwashing since birth is clearly working.

I've watched Corrie since the 70s (though despair of it at the moment). DCs don't really watch any soaps - they've seen bits of Corrie if they're at large whilst I'm watching, but really aren't interested. They've seen bits of Hollyoaks too (ony because it's on after The Simpsons) but don't really like that either.

No, their idea of trashy tell heaven is 'Don't tell the Bride' and of course endless 'Top Gear'. I don't mind their watching a bit of brainless telly, as long a they recognise that's what it is.

We watched them maybe 3-4 times together but it was like:'i like her shirt', 'i don't like the wallpaper' etc. We didn't know the storylines anyway.

When i was new into uk a friend saw me reading English and said to me:'Reading is not enough, you must watch tv every evening to pick up the British accent'. I went home and turned bbc on. It was Eastenders on. I kept watching it every week thinking that i'm improving my English until my boss got tired of my 'innit' and said 'where in london is your ESL evening classes then'?

Tuning in 3 times a week over the course of years to watch the same group/s of fictional characters is a bit different to novels/theatre/film, which is a much shorter term 'involvement'. I suppose you could draw a parallel with something like Twilight, which people seem to get really into, but other than that I think soaps are different.

DarkesteyeswithflecksofgoldMon 10-Sep-12 14:58:11

I dont really watch any except Corrie because my DH likes it... which brings me to a real bugbear of mine. Dh likes Corrie and i prefer dramas and crime thrillers. I particularly love the Bletchley Circle which started last week. And i love Whitechapel George Gently etc.
But when ive mentioned to people that DH likes Corrie and i prefer crime thrillers they INSIST it must be the other way around simply because he wears boxers and i wear a bra!

BegoniaBampotMon 10-Sep-12 17:56:39

do daughters watch soaps more, i wonder, than sons, especially if the parents don't watch. Would have thought they would appeal to women/girls more than males.

I rest my case!

I wouldn't let my children watch it (they go to bed at 7.30 anyway). In fact I emailed a complaint to the BBC about EE.

The way that such violence and vileness towards each other on a daily basis is shown at peak time. A bad example for children and worse for easily influenced adults. It sends a powerful message about possible reactions to stressful situations- basically, fight, scream, attack. Look at the power of advertising, it gets to us all.

They sent a shit stock response about the fact that it's been on for years (since when did things being round for years make them OK?) They also said parents can decide whether it's appropriate for their kids... Clearly not considering those who don't care or the others who trust the schedule as reflecting what's ok for kids to see before 9.00.

Why can't they just put a programme on where people resolve things well? People do like happy endings!

Darkesteyes

Do they really 'insist' or just make light banter? I like action, crime, sci-fi movies/series more than rom-com, chic lit stuff. Still stands though, wonder what the viewing figures are for soaps regarding gender.

It's a load of rubbish....the lot of it. IMO. My nieces were glued to them all growing up. Their grownup lives now resemble a Coronation Street storyline.

My children didn't take notice of EE 9 the only soap) Till they were 12/13 dd2 isn't that fussed about it, I guess if parents are watching kids will notice or watch too, and at 11 children start talking nonsense about soaps or telly programmes to relate to each other, It is no biggie IMO

I don't watch soaps and would never inflict them on DS, yanbu

"A bad example for children and worse for easily influenced adults. It sends a powerful message about possible reactions to stressful situations- basically, fight, scream, attack"

As i said, i sometimes watch with my teens and use Holly Oaks as discussion material with the teens that i work with, also.

I don't agree on the above statement because it can be used as a way of showing how not to behave and how it comes across to others as well as why people behave like that, such as 'learned behaviour'.

It depends on how and where you live anway, i suppose, as what i see on soaps happens around me (and worse), but then i live and work in Merseyside amongst disadvantage and violence.

For a while i have been using Kat as a discussion point about why children whohave been sexually abused can become promiscuous.

I am having interesting discussion about surrogacy and the law etc with my 16 year old.

But then we are a family who work in social care and statutory services and don't shy away from the nitty gritty of life, you can use soaps as a platform to inform your children about all sorts of issues.

I assume you wouldn't regard yourself as 'easily influenced'? In which case the statement wouldn't be relevant to you. brilliant for you to use it as a talking point, not everyone will be doing this though.

I'm talking about people who are vulnerable and open to suggestion and see these reactions as normal or worse, productive or even glamorous.

I am loving all the soap snobbiness too.. always amazes me how people who profess never to watch them seem to know so much about them too

I bet they are the same as the people who have never watched an episode of Xfactor yet know all about the latest episode

Also if you work with disadvantaged families, do you seem them using the soap as a talking point?

I work with disturbed children who have witnessed domestic violence, drugs and abuse etc, all of which are portrayed on EE They have mental health difficulties and extreme behaviour.
There will be young children up and down the country witnessing this violence and abuse on the TV, incorporating into their thoughts about how to behave.
But hey it's a good talking point for you and your teenaged kids so let's not worry about anyone else.

The soaps don't show extreme violence or abuse.

There is always a 'right' ending to a story line, such as the relationship coming to an end, or characters exploring their feelings and this can be expanded on by carers.

When i am doing an assessment on a child, what they are interested in/watch is asked, i build on that, whatever the answer.

Your point about the children that are known to services has nothing to do with soaps.

The point is that in families that work well, soaps are not harmful, which seems to be the attitude on this thread. Likewise i see soaps promoting comments on fb and some good discussion come from them, from teens.