Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is the Beano magazine a bad influence?

63 replies

Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 22:38

Hi this is my first thread ever! I was just hoping for some sensible advice. My DH is threatening to throw out all my DS 8years, Beano albums and comics. He loves them dearly but my DS thinks they are a bad influence. ( this weeks was very anti homework which is already a difficult subject to motivate my DS). DH has already got rid of the Thomas the Tank engine books when he was little ( as he didnt like the way they treated each other). Can anyone counter his argument? I dont want another row or to be blamed further down the line. Here's hoping for a quieter life.

OP posts:
edam · 17/06/2013 22:57

Ooh, shallishanti reminded me, I loved the Beano as a kid (and Mandy, and Twinkle, and the Dandy, and every comic I could get my hands on) and I grew up to be... a journalist. Which, depending on your dh, may be an argument for. Or against!

Salmotrutta · 17/06/2013 22:58

See here:

Charles and Camilla

Salmotrutta · 17/06/2013 22:59

And The Dandy stopped last year Sad - you can on,y get it online now.

weblette · 17/06/2013 23:01

Ha Edam me too!

All of my 4 read it, there are fights as to who gets it first - they range in age from 5-13, girl and 3 boys.

Your dh sounds a joyless arse, sorry.

WhispersOfWickedness · 17/06/2013 23:07

I only opened this thread because I thought it was going to be one about 'what threads would have been on mumsnet in the 1950's' Grin

SadAbout the Dandy. I loved that one. Am I right in thinking it had Ivy the Terrible in it? Smile

MrsLyman · 17/06/2013 23:11

Hmm, on the one hand I agree with you the Beano didn't do me any harm, but on the other I can't stand Thomas the Thank engine and will always steer DS1 away from them at bedtime as they are all really horrible to each other (the author clearly has issues from his boarding school days), so I do feel some slight empathy for your DH's point of view.

How bad is your son's problem with homework? If it's never getting done then encouraging him to read anti-homework stories probably isn't wise. If it's just a normal reluctance to get started but it always gets done eventually scenario then your DH is being unreasonable.

Lurleene · 17/06/2013 23:13

The only thing I don't like about Beano is that it costs over 8 quid a month!

Original poster
Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 23:18

What stories did my deranged Ddh enjoy, piprabbit ? Tin Tin & Aestrix . I did enjoy the recent Tin Tin film but can't really comment as I didn't get into those annuals. I read my brothers Dandy and Beano, may be I'm the delinquent influence! Although I had to make do with sneaky peaks of the Jackie magazine from jumble sales and friends older sisters. I recently found a Jackie annual in a charity shop and did throw it away ( not just 'coz Gary Glitter was the pin up!).

OP posts:
weblette · 17/06/2013 23:21

Ooh I remember the days when it was 7p

Original poster
Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 23:26

Yes MrsLyman homework reluctance is confined to written work and can usually be cajoled with time incentives and other bribes. Maybe I should use the Beano as a reward :)

OP posts:
lottiegarbanzo · 17/06/2013 23:26

Hmm, well I've had a lifelong predilection for stripy jumpers but don't like the combination of black and red. I feel terribly conflicted now you mention it...

piprabbit · 17/06/2013 23:27

Aestrix was never one for conforming to authority and there were some peculiar ideas in Tin Tin IIRC.

If you want to understand why children enjoy subversive literature, and why it is actually good for them, try reading something like Alison Lurie's "Don't tell the Grown-ups - The Subversive Power of Children's Literature" - or better still get your DH to read it.

Original poster
Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 23:34

Oh I like the idea of piprabbit books with subversive in the title. can you get it from the local library?

OP posts:
Original poster
Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 23:37

Oh Edam I forgot about the Twinkle, I'm becoming nostalgic here.

OP posts:
piprabbit · 17/06/2013 23:38

It's available to reserve at my local library, so hopefully should be available at yours (and there are second hand copies on Amazon for less than £3 with free delivery)

piprabbit · 17/06/2013 23:39

Nurse Nancy and the Doll's Hospital - I soooo wanted a nurses uniform like Nancy's.

TapselteerieO · 17/06/2013 23:43

The Beano is enjoyed by all in my house, dd was a huge fan, then ds, dh always reads it too - everyone has their favourite characters too. Ds reads his copies of the comic and the annuals over and over. It has got much more PC. I loved Astrix and Tin Tin when I was young, as well as Oor Wullie and The Broons, Garfield, Rupert the Bear and Snoopy...

Original poster
Jellybeanz1 · 17/06/2013 23:46

Thanks piprabbit I'll pop down library later

OP posts:
BreconBeBuggered · 17/06/2013 23:56

Ask your child's teachers what they think about throwing out things he loves to read, and report any responses back to your DH.

KentishWine · 18/06/2013 07:17

If your DH is concerned about 'morals' in children's books he might want to think about his own childhood reading - TinTin was rather racist at times!

As for throwing away DSs books...that's just mean. Your DS will remember it forever. DH should get a grip. It's The Beano, not Mein Kampf.

burberryqueen · 18/06/2013 07:23

don't let him throw the Beano collection away! It would be sacrilege and really nasty!
one or two friends and I did blame our anti-authoritarian stance on the Beano but actually there is nothing wrong with that and we are all doing OK in later life, so do not worry....
also ask your husband if he would like to make a bonfire of the Beano and point him to Fahrenheit 451 and Nazi Germany.

theodorakisses · 18/06/2013 08:19

aquila and ocada are chosen by the kind of parents who think any joy sugar or fun may not be an exclusive learning experience. Boooooring

theodorakisses · 18/06/2013 08:23

and as you husband sounds like a fussy tosspot who thinks everything should be educational, he is also showing utter hypocrisy by depriving a child of reading something he loves. It's a slippery slope, he'll be banning telly next and posting smuggo threads about the fact their child is 47 and have never even seen a television set

Oldandcobwebby · 18/06/2013 08:28

Have my very first LTB. As a bloke, I have no idea why a woman would stick with a controlling loon.

bodiddly · 18/06/2013 08:30

My ds is obsessed by the Beano and the Dandy. I don't buy the current comics as they cost a lot but we buy older comics and annuals at car boot sales and charity shops. He has soooo many of them and reads them over and over. In my view anything that encourages reading is fine by me. I do insist that he reads a proper book at bedtime but he can be found the rest of the time with an annual in the garden, under the bed, on the loo or even in the bath!