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AIBU?

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Original poster

to not let dd watch dr who?

56 replies

mintchips · 21/07/2007 12:22

Well am I??

She has asked quite a few times but I've always thought she is too young- she is 6 next week- but it turns out a few of her friends watch it and she is feeling left out when they talk about it. They also take the mick cos she likes Fifi.

How many of you let your dc's watch it and do they get scared?

thanks x

OP posts:
littlerach · 21/07/2007 12:25

Dd1 is 6 and doesn't watch it. Never entered my head to let her, TBH.

WigWamBam · 21/07/2007 12:26

Dd is 6, and I don't let her watch it.

A lot of her friends watch it, and she has asked to watch it too, but she is easily scared and I know that it would frighten her.

You know your dd best; just because other 6 year olds watch it doesn't mean it's suitable for yours.

domesticgrumpess · 21/07/2007 12:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

moljam · 21/07/2007 12:34

my eldest are 6 and 7.they watch it but only after months of us saying no,then watching it ourselfs to see what we thought.we always watch it with them so if they are scared or down understand something were right with them.they only got scared once and that was with angels-it scared me too.

if you dont want your lo to watch it dont.

flack · 21/07/2007 12:40

My DC (now age 7+5), saw (ages ago) a few episodes of Dr. Who and still complain about how too scarey it was. I've learned a lesson the hard way.

WideWebWitch · 21/07/2007 12:42

My 3yo watches it because we all do together, she doesn't get most of it and certainly isn't remotely scared. But I wouldn't necessarily suggest to anyone they let a v little one, it's just hard to police sometimes in our house. She's seen Star Wars and the like too, as have many of my friend's youngest children. They all seem fine.

MEMsmum · 21/07/2007 12:53

We also watch as a family (DD 12, DD 10 and DS 6) - and sometimes if the girls are busy elsewhere DS and I will wait to watch one of the repeated episodes with them. I think it distills the "realness" of it for him. We also let them watch Dr Who Confidential afterwards too which is fab as it explains the special effects, etc and makes it obvious that it's make-believe and not real. Having said that though, you'll know whether your daughter will be freaked out - and we do have the odd blip - Blink and the Gasmask episodes leap immediately to mind!!!

Original poster
mintchips · 21/07/2007 12:53

Thanks for the replies.

I'd never thought about it til she said about her friends watching, dp and me don't watch it ourselves.

I would watch it with her but imo it's not a kids programme.

Don't know whether to let her watch one and see how it goes...

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 21/07/2007 13:27

I don't think it's a children's programme either - not a young children's programme, anyway.

I would like to leave it until dd is at least 8 [mean old mummy].

chocolateteapot · 21/07/2007 13:32

My 8.5 year old DD watched a couple of carefully chosen episodes a week or two ago. She suffers badly from nightmares so we have to be very careful about what she watches.

harleyd · 21/07/2007 13:57

mine watch it

DoubleBluff · 21/07/2007 13:58

WE watch it together, DS's are 7 and 4.
DS2 oes find it boring rather rthan scary.
DS1 is a huge fan.

DirtyGertiefromnumber30 · 21/07/2007 14:13

my ds age 4 has seen a couple of episodes. seemed very nonplussed by the whole thing.

agree you might just have to 'suck it and see' by watching an episode with her and gauging her reaction!

geekgirl · 21/07/2007 14:21

it wouldn't occur to me to let any of mine (8, 6 & 3) watch it - it's not a programme for young children. Am always rather when I hear of preschoolers who are big Dr Who fans...

LoonyLyraLovegood · 21/07/2007 14:22

My boys both watch it. They are (just turned) three and nearly 5. They both adore it and are not scared, have never had nightmares over it etc.
Unless your child is particularly sensitive, there's no reason why they shouldn't watch it.

LoonyLyraLovegood · 21/07/2007 14:23

They're more likely to be bored than scared as there sometimes isn't any action for a while.

SSSandy2 · 21/07/2007 14:25

I was much older than your dd when I watched it and those daleks gave me nightmares. I wouldn't letd (6) watch it.

How about videoing an episode to watch with her so she knows what it is like. You can interrupt it and fastforward etc but then she knows what it's like and who's who but I wouldn't let her watch it on a regular basis.

cornsilk · 21/07/2007 14:40

Doctor Who can be very scary. My ds is 6 and he finds it scary and doesn't watch it. Not all of them are though. Depends on the child. I know chn younger who watch it and are not scared.

southeastastra · 21/07/2007 14:42

mine watches it. he loves it. in fact i think he's going to become a geek as he loves the old ones too. he also loves beatrix potter

agnesnitt · 23/07/2007 01:32

My daughter is four and has been watching 'New Who' since it started when she was wee. All about personal choice, if you don't feel comfortable letting your child watch it then don't let her

Agnes

Desiderata · 23/07/2007 01:46

mintchips .. something weird is happening with modern Dr Who. Kids just don't find it frightening. It's camp, and they seem to latch on to that.

My ds (2.8) can't get enough of Dr Who and all the monsters. But he won't watch SHREK. It freaks him out.

I've had to remove his Thomas the Tank play den from his room because he thinks that a big, hairy hand is coming from it an night.

There are loads of thing that scare him, but Dr Who just isn't one of them.

And that' weird, because when I was a kid in the 70s, Dr Who was incredibly frightening.

Original poster
mintchips · 23/07/2007 14:31

Thanks everyone.

I think i might just let her watch one and see how it goes.

BTW when is it on?

OP posts:
chipkid · 23/07/2007 14:39

My ds has just turned 6 and I have relented but only in so far as I have bought a dvd and will not let him watch alone or just before bed.
He is not scared of anything and so I was not too worried about him-he just loves it!

serenity · 23/07/2007 14:49

Well the current series finished a couple of weeks ago, so you've missed it I'm afraid. They're reshowing it on BBC3 (or 4, can't remember exactly!) at 7 each evening but if you watch tonight it's the second part of a twoparter so might be a bit confusing. UK Gold might be repeating the older series, but I don't know when.

My three all watch it (9,7 and 3.5) and have no problems with it at all, but they grew up watching the 6pm episodes of Buffy and aren't worried by unrealistic programmes. DS1 sometimes gets a bit nervous, but he just reads a book instead. We've never had nightmares or suchlike.

UnquietDad · 23/07/2007 14:49

My DD was 4 when the new series started and she'd been watching a lot of the old DVDs and videos before that.

It depends on how much reassurance they need and how good they are at being OK about it being "just a story".

A lot of the horror/violence is detacheed from everyday experience - aliens shoot laser guns and not real guns, etc. Sometimes it goes a little too far - the Cybermen in people's living-rooms last series stepped a little over the line for children. Th recent episode "Blink" with the living statues terrified DS(4), but DD(now 7) and her two visiting friends loved squealing in "terror" at it.

One very good moral centre in the new DW is that humans are only ever killed by "baddies" - aliens or possessed humanoids. You will never see one human being killing another.

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