to have expected comic relief to be watchable for my 5 year old before 8pm

[PrincessScrumpy]

I know comic relief gets a bit rude as the night goes on but I made the mistake of thinking that as dd has been raising money at school it would be good to let her stay up and watch until 7.45pm.

Yes I knew there would be jokes she wouldn't get but I didn't expect her to be taught the word shagging.

I remember watching it with my parents and wanted to do the same.

So, am I being a fuddy duddy?

[UnknownGnome]

Oh, my children, too, were shocked by the information films. My ds was distraught to see that people really live like that and kept telling me to text (I already had!)

They weren't bothered by the shagging and vajazzle thing; they just asked me what they meant. In no way do I think he's 'scarred' by hearing the words. And I wasn't 'outraged' by it. I still believe they could have left those words out.

[IlianaDupree]

Haven't rtft, I don't support comic relief, ds's school hasn't

I don't because I'm a child abuse survivor and feel the BBC needs to seriously address the ongoing issues about their organisation

My ds's school doesn't as they directly support african charities year round, constantly fundraising and awareness raising directly with the people who we support. I can see where the money goes and the school gets direct thanks. My ds has learnt more from that than wearing a nose

[OrangeFireandGoldashes]

I suppose I'm just surprised it has to be all or nothing. That if you want to use Comic Relief as an opportunity to begin or increase your children's knowledge of and compassion towards those less fortunate, then you have to take the references to shagging and vajazzle as well, as though you can't have one without the other. That because what's happening in parts of Africa is so shocking, you're not allowed to be shocked at anything deemed "lesser" (that'll shut AIBU up pretty damn quick...) That on a forum where there are regular threads bemoaning the sexualisation of children, loss of innocence etc, exposure to sex-related terminology in the guise of humour is now okay because they all " hear worse in the playground" and "will know about it in a few years anyway".

:shrugsandwandersofftofindathreadonbadgers:

[IlianaDupree]

And I fully expect to be flamed wholeheartedly but can't reply as I'm off out to my regular charity fundraising day for uk people.

[Pagwatch]

You don't support comic relief because you don't like the BBC?

I was abused as a child and I have no clue how you make that logical leap.

My dds school also support a school in Africa. We also support a child in Tanzania. She also watches, bakes cakes nd wears a red nose for comic relief. I don't see her having to create a limit at which point she should stop because she understands tbh.

[UnknownGnome]

Yes, Oranges, exactly.

[Pagwatch]

Oh do stop with the 'I fully expect to be flamed'

It's incredibly passive aggressive. Coincidently it is often posted by people ho have posted guff and know thy will be called on it.

And the 'I am off to do fundraising' shtick is immensely childish.

[NotMostPeople]

Don't be silly Roses my children haven't lived in a bubble.

I'm sure we've watched CR throughout their childhoods although they would have gone to bed much earlier at five. Surely this isn't the first time your child has asked am awkward question? It goes with the territory, "why is that man fat." " how did the baby get in your tummy?", "what's a vejazzle?"

Small price to pay.

[Honey40]

Oranges, I agree whole-heatedly with what you have said. Thoughtful and sensible responses, whether supporting or opposing my own beliefs, are what I came on here to read. Thank you. I too will now 'shrug and wander off', leaving the forum to continue to attack other mums on their values, beliefs and parenting ability.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

Iliana is clearly a better person than us poor mortals Pag.
I bought a fiver's worth of red noses and wristbands and donated a tenner (without getting of the sofa) and ds did something at school which seemed to constitute wearing something red.

[CloudsAndTrees]

Honey, I'm sorry you have had to encounter such idiocy on your first venture onto MN. I completely understood and agreed with your post, and usually you can have a reasonably sensible conversation on here. Unfortunately, there are some posters that don't have the ability to do that, and instead they behave like vipers.

It seems to me that many of the people telling the OP that she is missing the point are actually spectacularly missing the point themselves.

The point is that there was no need for there to be a stretch that included vajazzles, shagging, and 'the f word' at 7.45 on a programme that will have children watching. Of course the aim of comic relief is to raise awareness of the terrible things that go on in the world in order to raise money, but you could do that without including words that some parents would prefer their children not to be exposed to when they are already making an effort to sit and watch a programme that will educate them about far more important issues.

So much of comic relief is aimed at children, and the simple fact is that the BBC should not be trying to have it both ways. If they want to target children by producing merchandise designed to appeal to them, then they should be mindful of the fact that they will be watching the programme, and should not ignore the feelings of the many parents that have expressed disappointment that they chose to show a sketch like that before 8.00.

[SaggyOldClothCatpuss]

We don't NEED lowest-common-denominator fart-bum-willy-shag jokes to get the point across
You do realise that Comic Relief was was started by and still stars the likes of Richard Curtis, Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones and Dawn Fench, don't you?
And as for Miss Piggy being aimed at children!...
It's was harmless fun. Have you seen what passes for humour nowadays?

[Ilovexmastime]

YABVU. Red nose night is not aimed at small children, there was plenty of red nose stuff on cbbc for the small ones. Red nose day has been going for 25 years now and has always been like this, I don't know why so many people are surprised at the potty humour and the fact that it's not actually very funny.
If you took the decision to let your little one stay up and watch you can't then demand that it doesn't contain any words that might upset them. Although I'm struggling to understand what is so bad about vajazzle and shagging, it's not like they're swear words and they're pretty easy to explain. The outrage at a midwife looking up a sheet has me truely puzzled too.

[MissAnnersley]

I know. Imagine looking up a sheet. The horror! The next thing you know children will know where babies come from...

It was two words. That is all. Hardly the thin end of the wedge.

[Lovecat]

I'm not sure why people are getting so outraged about someone not liking mention of shagging and vajazzling before the watershed.

This in itself is not unreasonable and just because it's for charity doesn't mean you're not allowed to dislike it.

The OP has been given an uneccessarily hard time by people who appear to be trying to out-cool and out-'care' each other. You can care about the causes and not want your children to hear that language before the watershed - the two are not mutually incompatible.

And Orangefire said it fare more eloquently than me.

[CloudsAndTrees]

Harmless it may be, but when a lot of people don't like it for a valid reason, it kind of defeats the point doesn't it?

And whether it's harmless is debatable. I had other people's children staying with me last night, four ten year olds including my own. The other parents were fine with me watching CR with their dc, as the children are old enough and they knew I'd have a chat with them all about it. I was expecting to spend the evening talking about poverty and it's effects, instead I ended up having a nice little debate about whether the BBC should have allowed that sketch so early in the evening. The children were very sensible, not shocked by the words that they know the meanings of, but are old enough to be aware that there is a time and a place for certain things to be discussed. It was their collective opinion that the BBC were wrong to show it, and they came up with lots of valid reasons why. Its actually quite sad that they lost a bit of respect for Comic Relief last night after spending the day fundraising.

[LadyBeagleEyes]

No Lovecat, it's not about people out-cooling or out-caring.
It's people that are just utterly perplexed that a couple of words is an issue.
I mean shagging and vajazzle?
And that is enough to get your knickers in a twist about?
I don't get it, I really don't.

[NotMostPeople]

It's not a children's programme, you choose to let your children watch CR you take a risk. Frankly I don't want tv during the evening to be watered down to be non offensive to children. I have enough of that during the day.

[MissAnnersley]

Me neither LBE. I am very, very far from 'cool'.

Two words. A fleeting moment.

[YouTheCat]

Seems to be a lot of 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' still going on here.

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

I had to leave this thread last night, it made me so cross.

Anyone who considers that after 7pm is going to be totally ok for small dc is a bit deluded. The normal content of broadcasting is not suitable at that time, why would Comic Relief be different?

They are words, harmless words that can easily be explained away if you haven't done The Chat, just as Chaos said ^^.

I find explaining the real issues to be more of a concern.

[IlianaDupree]

Not better, just a different opinion (which I am fully entitled to form and express) and trying to point out there are other ways of donating to and learning about charities than comic relief, which specialises in certain areas.

Sitting on the sofa is much more preferable than standing in the wind + snow though so I'll deflect to you intelligence and fuck the fuck off

[CockyPants]

If you don't like it don't watch it.
Get of your self righteous high horses and stop whining.
I bet the people who CR are trying to support have got other things on their minds and are not wasting time bitching and moaning over a TV programme.
Perspective FFS.

[Pagwatch]

That's fair enough Iliana. Of course you should express your opinion. But trying to deflect any counter to your point by you 'I will be flamed now' and 'I am off out to do good works' is pretty snide.
You have no idea what others do beyond comic relief. To imply that anyone defnding comic relief does nothing else is nonsense.

And anyone expressing their opinion should accept people to challenge them rather than shouting an leaving.

[RoseandVioletCreams]

By the same token, implying that people do not have compassion and empthay with the people in the films because they also didn't like the tone of the program before the watershed is nasty and snide.

Implying that people who do not want thier DC to watch EE etc etc must not have donated or supported it or other charites is deflecting the argument in exactly the same way.