To let DD watch The Simpsons?

[KellyEllyChristmasBelly]

That's its really. My DD is three and we usually have The Simpsons on while I get her bathed and dried at 6pm. Her dad (who let her watch Iron Man!! With her 8 year old sister) said I am a bad parent for doing so. We are not together btw so not to drip feed. Genuinely interested in opinions. She loves it!

[Offred]

Yes Tom and jerry carries a mandatory warning!

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I thought I was clicking on this thread to watch the OP get flamed. So glad shes not.

DD1 3.10 watches it. Its a refreshing change from cbeebies. I have wondered a few times if she should but most of it washes over her (and the fact her dad wont let her watch it at his seems to make it desirable)

I agree with Offred. Some things people protect children from are things they should really be learning about or learning how to deal with. I felt very sheltered as a child and would rather have been guided than protected.

[Cezella]

To be honest I think some of the stuff on the Disney Channel are much worse. At least in the Simpsons Bart is a kid being a kid whereas on all the Disney Channel nonsense it's all about dating and looking good and things which makes me feel sad as I think children already grow up too quickly these days!

[KellyEllyChristmasBelly]

I bought a few cartoon dvds from my childhood - bugs bunny, tom and jerry etc. They are definately worse than The Simpsons! It was strange when I was watching them with DD as I didn't remember them like that which probably goes to show a lot washes over children.

[Offred]

I wouldn't want them watching the Disney channel but we don't have it so not an issue. If they watch it at someone else's house I'm not bothered. I'd probably mostly prefer them to learn about some things described as "adult themes" like how words are used, bullying, sex, sexuality etc than watch any of the things which are meant for children which I often think are pointlessly upsetting and retain a lot of the features of the things people describe as "adult themes"; sex, violence etc but without exploring or explaining them or giving any reasons for them.

[Offred]

Mine, who are 7, 6, 3 and 3 watch it occasionally. The 7 and 6 year olds definitely know what gay really means and I have talked to them about gay being used as an insult and what that might mean in society/to gay people.

[TeeBee]

They do filter the Simpsons so that those suitable for pre-watershed viewing get played before 6pm. Those deemed not suitable are shown later. But I do remember them accidentally showing one before the watershed that had the word 'wanker' in it. I don't think it ideal viewing for kids, I try to steer mine clear of it. However, the stuff they love on the disney channel is utter dross.

[theoriginalandbestrookie]

Yes DS watched Simpsons from a young age. All fine until now when he is 6 and called someone "gay" as an insult - asked him where he got it from and yup you got it The dear old Simpsons. There are also sexual references and lots of unsuitable themes that will pass right over a 3- 4 yr olds head but not a 6 years old.

It's not great but I'd be fighting a losing battle against both DH and DS to try and ban it.

To those with younger children, I would try to gently wean them off it by the age of about 5, wish I had.

[valiumredhead]

offredI completely agree, and that's exactly what happened when ds watched it and asked about it, some people might not be so up for that conversation over the breakfast table

It's not your normal common or garden cartoon.

[ILoveNoodles]

Simpsons part of the bedtime routine here as well.
In fact everyday we all climb into bed and watch it together
DS 4 loves it and always says "Is Homer on yet?"

[Offred]

And anything I might describe as "adult" is something I'm not to sure many adults are equipped to see/hear!

[Offred]

That's the thing about "adult themes" to me, they seem to be very arbitrary and normally more accurately "what I don't think my children should learn about/want my children to see/hear" which is fine as obviously everyone has to raise their children to their own conscience but I have seen breastfeeding and birth described as "adult themes", homosexuality etc and I think those things are just life not adult life.

[Offred]

Why is a sexchange an adult theme though? Should children not learn about and think about sex changes?

[valiumredhead]

There are some very adult themes, ds learned all about sex changes from watching The Simpsons

[AmberSocks]

Simpsons is great,my 2,3 and 4 yr olds love it.

Its one of the few things i enjoy watching with them and they dont understand the more adult bits of it,and they have picked up funny things like "ha ha" and "eat my shorts".

[quickdowntonson]

The Simpsons is a great programme! If you think about it, all the traditional fairy tales and Brothers Grimm stories are much worse. I mean, a witch fattening up a child so she could eat him etc!

[sidandlinus]

Absolutely NOT - there's nothing wrong with the main "Simpsons" part and most of the humour would go over their heads anyway but my DD had nightmares after seeing Itchy and Scratchy. So unless you think I and S are suitable (I know it's ironic and funny - but not for a two/three year old) then I would say no way.

[missnevermind]

Mine have all watched the Simpsons from an early age. The only thing we do is turn over at the Itchy and Scratch bits when they are chopping each other up.
As they get older it is a good way to introduce topics to discus.

[Offred]

I think my children see much worse at school e.g. They know all the swear words imaginable because they learned them from school! I'm not sure you can or should try to shield children from stuff like that, I think you should make it so that they feel they can talk to you and also talk to them about the implications of things. Basically rather than shielding them from stuff i think it is better to equip them to deal with stuff they encounter but also help equip them to get support if they feel they can't handle something they encounter. Some things I wouldn't show them deliberately but the Simpsons is not one of those things!

[GroupieGirl]

I thought I was being a bad mum for letting my two year old watch it! Thrilled to find I am not. Although we do sometimes have a wee chat afterwards if there have been naughty words or behaviour.

[MrsMellowDrummer]

My daughter watched the Simpsons from quite a young age - there's a five year gap between her and her brother, and as he loves it, she did too by default.

I always thought, it wasn't the ideal thing for her to watch, but did no real harm. I screen the episodes a bit.

The Simpsons is also highly educational. Packed full of interesting cultural references. Fact.

[Offred]

I'm not sure what makes the Simpson unsuitable for children? What are the "adult themes" that make it worse than other tv? That Jacqueline Wilson thing "best friends" on citv the other day had the main character dancing around saying "it is REALLY sexy" over and over again...

I don't generally do well with "adult themes" stuff anyway... Not too sure what it means...

[LtXmasEve]

The Simpsons have been part of our bedtime routine for about 3 years now! It's a lot of fun. Now she is 7 she is 'getting' it more (and loves naked Bart in the movie ).

[carolinemoon]

I'm also going to go against gte grain. We used to let DD (2 at the time) watch "the lellow people" as we loved it. Then after a few episodes we realised how totally inappropriate some of the themes are, and stopped, as I think they take in more than you'd think (certainly the stuff DD absorbs from octonauts suggests they do!).

[catgirl1976geesealaying]

DS (1) loves it