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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

David Attenborough

121 replies

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:14

To be find his nature programmes too distressing to watch and children should be spared from watching them?

Ok so little flamingo with salt stuck to legs so couldn't keep up with his/her peers in search of water? DS still asking did he make it? Penguin being bopped around like a volleyball and his little face in the killer whales jaw. Luckily DS didn't watch this episode and probably won't watch the rest of the series.

I get this is life but surely they could skip the gruesome bits? We know animals eat other animals but I don't want to see the inside of an abattoir for entertainment either?

OP posts:

EatDessertFirst · 15/10/2020 14:17

I think children should be aware of the natural world, even the bad bits. If you think its not suitable, don't let them watch it. Its just standard parenting isn't it?

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:20

Erm thanks for the advice.

OP posts:

NotOfThisWorld · 15/10/2020 14:20

I'd probably not show it to an especially sensitive child if they were likely to be extremely distressed. I'm like you I find it upsetting but I don't think you did children any favours by protecting them from everything that is uncomfortable or hard to watch. As long as the child isn't likely to be disproportionately distressed I would allow them to watch it as I do think it's important for them to actually understand what the world around them is like.

JuliaJohnston · 15/10/2020 14:21

You can spare your own children quite easily, can't you? You're the parent...
Nature in the raw is pretty gruesome, no getting around it.

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:22

I know DA is a god but sometimes his programmes though beautifully shot seem like glorified hunting films. I'll get my coat.

OP posts:

turnthebiglightoff · 15/10/2020 14:23

They don't have to watch it? You wouldn't let them watch a late night channel 5 romp fest film, so just don't let them watch this if you don't want to. Perfectly simple.

NoGoodPunsLeft · 15/10/2020 14:23

I can still remember sobbing aged 10/11/12 over those flamingoes so I limit what nature shows DD watches. She's not overly sensitive in general but nature shows tend to upset her

TeenPlusTwenties · 15/10/2020 14:23

How old is your DS?
There are nature programmes for children (eg Deadly 60).

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:24

So I would probably shield a child or most people from throttling a rabbit and skinning it before I put it in a soup but hey that's just me.

OP posts:

Brandaris · 15/10/2020 14:24

I think it’s problematic to only have a sugar coated view of nature. But some programs do seem to really go for the emotional rollercoasters and explicit violence/gore.

Dd4 loves the programs and doesn’t seem bothered by it, I can’t watch them at all.

It would be nice to have more programs that are more about the animals than just eat or be eaten. I know it’s a kids program but I like deadly 60 for this- more facts about the animals and less emotional drama.

Goosefoot · 15/10/2020 14:25

I wouldn't force them to watch it, I don't watch a lot of nature shows because I find the stuff about conservation too depressing. I don't ignore the need for it, quite the opposite, but the shows I can't watch. When I was a child though I loved nature shows.

Which leads me to say, if your child can atch that stuff without becoming really distressed, it's not a bad thing to do so, and for you to be factual about the realities of nature. There is a tendency I find that has become increasingly prevalent for people to romanticise nature and the lives of wild animals, they talk about animals living out their natural lifespan in the wild as if that's just lovely and peaceful.

I have a very vivid memory of watching a nature show about lions as a child, where one of the lionesses suffered a broken jaw from a hunt. It became very clear to me what kind of death that meant for her, and it was not at all romantic.

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:30

I think a production of such an epic scale should be accessible to children it is educational and fascinating to see our planet but waiting for the next gruesome scene is not entertainment. We wouldn't watch a live murder, what's the difference? Or find a pig being killed entertaining so how is this different?

DA could say "the penguin may not escape this time" and leave it at that without showing his cute face about to be eaten.

OP posts:

rainyoutside · 15/10/2020 14:33

It’s vastly different to murder, or to factory farming.

It is certainly sometimes distressing to watch but the relationship between predator and prey is one that needs to be understood.

Early hunters had a respect and an affinity with the natural world. When animals started to be seen as commodities that changed.

NotOfThisWorld · 15/10/2020 14:37

@felineflutter

DA could say "the penguin may not escape this time" and leave it at that without showing his cute face about to be eaten.

So are you suggesting DA should only make sanitised versions of nature shows so that children won't be upset?

That's absolute madness and you know it! A human being murdered (which isn't a natural event) isn't the same as an animal hunting and eating another animal. I would definitely employ my discretion when deciding which children can cope with a particular nature show but the show is educational because it reflects reality. I don't think it's meant to be pure entertainment so much as educational.

NotAKaren · 15/10/2020 14:37

It depends on the child OP and also the adult. I must admit that I stopped watching his Netflix movie because it was too depressing on top of an already depressing time.

Llyn · 15/10/2020 14:37

Ok so little flamingo with salt stuck to legs so couldn't keep up with his/her peers in search of water? DS still asking did he make it?

Why is your DS still asking? Haven’t you explained?

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:39

I think it is important but DA focuses on this too intensely, surely there are other elements that are just as important - and rutting deers etc are not fun to watch. DA could perhaps show one example in each episode but it is relentless.

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Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:40

Yes I said he made it. I said the other flamingos pecked it off for him.

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babygroups · 15/10/2020 14:40

Are DA programmes specifically for young children?
If you don't think your child is old enough to watch them without being upset then don't let him watch them.
There's no need to sensor programmes that plenty of adults enjoy.

Gazelda · 15/10/2020 14:41

As a parent, I think it's my role to make a (mental) risk assessment for each programme I allow my DC to watch. The criteria I use are: is it entertaining, educational, age appropriate.

DA's films might not be appropriate for a 5yo, but entirely suitable and important viewing for a 15yo.

babygroups · 15/10/2020 14:41

You could always just not watch them? Or make your own ?

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:41

Kids get this stuff. My DS loves lions and totally gets the concept of the circle of life without it being thrust in his face.

OP posts:

vanillandhoney · 15/10/2020 14:42

Nature is pretty grim, though.

He's known for being honest - his recent programme on extinction was pretty hard-hitting IMO but it's good that he doesn't shy away from things.

However, I don't think his programmes are really aimed at small children.

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:43

@babygroups of course you are correct...thing is I have just bought a 4k TV and this is a rite of passage.

OP posts:

Original poster

felineflutter · 15/10/2020 14:44

Perhaps it could be a 12 rating not a U then?

OP posts:

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