Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Comic Relief before 9pm

292 replies

TittyGolightly · 25/03/2017 08:14

6 year old DC came out of school full of Comic Relief chatter and asked to donate their week's pocket money to the charity. Fine and dandy, we switched on at about 8pm and they showed a short film about a child and their grandmother collecting rubbish in Nairobi. DC was even keener to donate, so we texted in to donate money from all of us. Watched a couple of skits and then they showed a video of a 13 month old girl dying of malaria. Actually dying on the screen despite CPR and being put into a body bag and wheeled away. You can imagine the effect that had on a 6 year old. We've been up half the night with them having nightmares about dying babies.

AIBU to think that wasn't suitable viewing pre-watershed?

OP posts:
AllTheWittyNamesAreGone · 25/03/2017 08:15

Well, you as her parent could of switched over....

Snap8TheCat · 25/03/2017 08:16

Have you never watched Comic Relief before?

VintagePerfumista · 25/03/2017 08:16

The off button is there for a purpose.

TheInimitableMrsFanshawe · 25/03/2017 08:17

YABU. Comic relief is about highlighting some pretty distressing things happening in the world. Your DD is six, I think many six year olds would be in bed by 8. It's up to you to anticipate and police what she watches.

I wouldn't let a six year old watch call the midwife, for example, which can be pretty upsetting and that's on from 8pm.

ShatnersBassoon · 25/03/2017 08:17

Assuming you've watched before, you should have known how distressing the footage can be.

ILoveMyMonkey · 25/03/2017 08:19

Why didn't you turn over? The mind boggles as to why you wouldn't Confused.

Original poster
TittyGolightly · 25/03/2017 08:20

We don't normally watch it, so wasn't expecting it to be quite so hard hitting so early in the evening, no.

It was impossible to tell if it was going to be to be a "baby got better thanks to comic relief donators" type film. I thought it a good opportunity for DC to see how lucky she is/how other children around the world live. We're very open about death but I wasn't expecting her to literally watch a child die at 8:30pm. Hmm

OP posts:
PeridotPeridot · 25/03/2017 08:20

I think yabu about the footage tbh. But the dc stayed up until about 9 last night and I did notice that there were a few things on the skits that were possibly a bit much pre-watershed...a bit risque and a couple of swear words, which i've never noticed other years.

Original poster
TittyGolightly · 25/03/2017 08:21

I don't know any 6 year olds that are in bed at 8pm, let alone on a Friday night.

OP posts:
blueskyinmarch · 25/03/2017 08:22

It was pretty hard hitting but so very real. It wasn’t some made up monster story, it was a real child dying. That is the whole point of comic relief. If it had come on at 5 past 9 would it have made any difference to your DC? I guess you now need to use this experience to open up a dialogue with your DC about poverty, death and dying.

NoParticularPattern · 25/03/2017 08:22

As the responsible adult I'm assuming you have at some point in the past watched comic relief? Surely you know that they show these sorts of things? That coupled with the warnings of upsetting images that they always put out, and the fact that you could see for a good minute or so before the little girl died that that was what was going to happen probably should have given the game away.

Unfortunately dying of Malaria isn't exactly suitable for the children involved either. YABU

WateryTart · 25/03/2017 08:23

YABU. The dying children matter more than your sensibilities.

Original poster
TittyGolightly · 25/03/2017 08:25

I haven't watched for about 20 years.

There was no warning before either film. I didn't know which way it was going to go either.

Like I said, we're very honest with DC about the world and dying, and are closely involved with a charity in Southern Africa.

OP posts:
Original poster
TittyGolightly · 25/03/2017 08:26

Incidentally the charity we're involved with isn't eligible for CR funding because of their ridiculous criteria.

OP posts:
Goforit2017 · 25/03/2017 08:26

I agree with you tbh. I also didn't agree with Ed Sheeran's rape comment especially as he had been told not to say it before 9pm and went ahead anyway. I have a 10 year old dc and as it happens he didn't want to watch it with me but he is very sensitive and would have been very upset if he had.

Coverup890 · 25/03/2017 08:27

My 6 yr old is already in bed at 8 he may not always be asleep though. As for comic relief havent watched it in years but know they have some pretty shocking stuff on there.

megletthesecond · 25/03/2017 08:27

Yabu. Have you never seen comic relief in over 20 years?

Mine are only slightly older and we generally watch comic / sports relief until 9pm. I'm always geared up to discuss what is shown, and they realise that their lives are very privileged compared to the majority of the planet.

WheresLarry · 25/03/2017 08:30

I think Ed Sheeran felt it was something that needed to be said, that people needed to know the real situation that these children are facing living on the streets. Whilst extreme and before the watershed I imagine he didn't care because the cause was worth any potential backlash.

HalfShellHero · 25/03/2017 08:31

Actually YANBU OP the BBC should know better tbh i wasn't happy about the previous watershed language OP either , piss off , Twat etc all before half 8 ...I get its live TV but..still, after hearing someone call beans a 'slags tan' dh was like did I hear that right it's 20 past 8 on comic relief?

exLtEveDallas · 25/03/2017 08:31

Actually I think you have a point. I know plenty of grown adults that were distressed by that clip, let alone children. One of my friends made a very good point - do you think if that had been a white western baby dying that it would have been shown on TV?
I don't.

I don't watch CR, haven't for years. I take part, I donate, but I don't watch the show. I'm glad I don't. My 11 year old (who doesn't go to bed until 11pm on a Friday), would have been seriously upset by that, as were most of her friends judging by her Snapchat and Instagram.

That poor baby. No chance in life and no dignity in death.

bibbetybobbetybooo · 25/03/2017 08:32

I actually think YANBU.

Yes - Comic Relief has a very serious purpose and that clearly needs to be shown/highlighted throughout the televised things.

But - they use the excitement of children dressing up on one day to help them raise an awful lot of money, so the pre-watershed stuff should be suitable for younger children

. It makes sense, to have -

A 7-8 hour where they keep things very safe but still explain some of the problems to young children in a child-friendly way (KS1/ lower KS2 level)

Then an 8-9 hour which is a bit more hard-hitting for older children, but is still age-appropriate.

Then go guns-a-blazing from 9pm

HalfShellHero · 25/03/2017 08:32

The Ed sheeran thing didn't bother me tbh,

VanillaSugar · 25/03/2017 08:34

Ed Sheeran was borderline appropriate but Vic Reeves was BANG out of order at 8.50.

Goforit2017 · 25/03/2017 08:36

What about the ed Sheeran thing bothering children?

Also agree that a white western child would not have been shown literally dying.

My dc's school made a big thing about them all dressing up and taking in funny photos. The more I think about it the more uncomfortable I feel.

WhooooAmI24601 · 25/03/2017 08:36

I have a 6 year old and he watched CR with MIL last night. We spoke about it when he woke this morning and he wanted to know why the little girl had to die and why nobody could save her. It's not necessarily something I'd have let him watch but, thinking about it, he's dealt with it far more maturely than I'd have imagined and it's opened his eyes to the fact that not everyone lives the lovely life he does.

The plight of a 13 month old dying of a preventable disease trumps my 6 year old's protected, pampered ignorance when it comes down to it.