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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that the kids programme 'Tracy Beaker' is really not nice??

77 replies

Love2bake · 19/06/2008 13:23

My DS (7) likes this programme, but I find the character Tracy really rude. She is always shouting at the other kids AND adults and I find the attitude just horrible.

I had a talk with my DS and suggested to him that we didn't have it on any more because it's just not a nice programme. He agreed with me.

I actually can't beleive that the BBC show it.

What do other parents think of it??

OP posts:
pointydog · 19/06/2008 17:43

We find hedz funny. We have a house of humour.

I'm always bemused by the whole banning of beaker, henry, etc.

Heifer · 19/06/2008 17:43

Well my DD 4.5 (yes only 4.5) loves it..

The first time I saw it I has horrifield, I banned her from watching it again.

For some reason, she did watch it (can't remember how that happened). and she really did enjoy it.

Next time I watched it with her so that if there is something I didn't like I made a point of saying that wasn't very nice etc, and even at 4.5 she knows that is how Tracey Beaker acts and does not want to be like that herself.

So I relented, and now sky+ it for her (but do still still with her whilst she watches it just in case.

Todays lovely gem was Bog off... I am just waiting to have to eat my words when DD lovingly tells someone to Bog off...

And I am usually quite stuffy about things like these - not sure what is happening to me...

seeker · 19/06/2008 18:24

Heifer - what is she going to be watching when she's 11?

UnquietDad · 19/06/2008 18:25

Yeah, Tracy has "atti-chood", which is another way of saying she's rude.

Mind you, I was banned from reading Just William books as a child because my mother thought they were teaching me rudeness....

Guadalupe · 19/06/2008 18:27

It's horrible. If you listen in the playground you can hear lots of mini Tracey Beakers everywhere.

I don't ban it but if I see it on I say, turn that rubbish off, it's hurting my ears.

UnquietDad · 19/06/2008 18:28

It's that sneeeeeeery way she talks? With the upswing too? Nyah-nyah-nah-nah-nah??? DD started to mimic it.

Heifer · 19/06/2008 18:31

If I hear DD copying TB in ANY way I will of course stop her from watching it.

Seeker, I understand what you are saying (or asking) but I am trying to take each day at a time... If she continues to be sensible about it, I will continue to let her watch.

But no I will not be allowing her to watch adult programmes or 18 films etc at aged 11 if that is what you meant....

CarGirl · 19/06/2008 18:32

I have no issues with my dds reading the books when they're at that stage of reading. I assume it will be different because they will read what Tracey is thinking not just hearing what she is saying IYSWIM

seeker · 19/06/2008 21:26

Sorry heifer, that was a bit sharp of me - and of course you won't be letting her watch 18s at 11!

But I do worry about children seeing all the stuff intended for older ones when theya re very young. Partly because they are missing out on all the fab stuff made for 4 year olds - and also because they will be bored with it when they reach the proper age - and what then? Maybe I think too much. And my children definitely think I'm a pain in the neck about this sort of thing - I take age recommendations very seriously!

SlartyBartFast · 19/06/2008 21:31

i didnt like tracey beaker in the beginning, it must have been going for years and at the time i did think it was makign my own dc's shouty

but we have watched it for a long time and they have calmed down.. and no longer try and emulate her

TsarChasm · 19/06/2008 21:33

Unquietdad 'I was banned from reading Just William books as a child because my mother thought they were teaching me rudeness' my dad practically insisted I read them cos they are so good.

Tracy Beaker is depressing. Well the little we watched was. Thankfully dc aren't interested. Eastenders for kids.

SlartyBartFast · 19/06/2008 21:34

we love My parents are aliens

southeastastra · 19/06/2008 21:35

i quite like it

pointydog · 19/06/2008 21:39

Your kids'll just laugh about it when they're older. In the same way people shake their heads now when they admit their parents banned ITV. Or wouldn't allow them to watch Tiswas. Or wouldn't let them wear black tights to school in primary.

bluewolf · 19/06/2008 21:48

Tracey Beaker is utterly brilliant, wonderful and great. There is loads of rule breaking and independance but at the end its all about resposibility and how much you care about other people. The opposite of nasty

SlartyBartFast · 19/06/2008 21:49

its a tough subject and i often wondered what children in care homes actually thought about it.
i heart jw

windygalestoday · 19/06/2008 21:51

my dh really dislikes her he also doesnt like horrible henrys mum AND he says thomas the tank engine has a nasty streak .......i say he watches too much kids tv lol

sallystrawberry · 19/06/2008 21:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

smartiejake · 19/06/2008 22:06

I think Tracy Beaker and other Jaqueline Wilson books need parental supervision.

They can put forward some very interesting and sometimes harrowing scenarios. But they are not for the younger reader/ viewer. I would say I agree with the mature 9s and over put forward by one of the posters.

I would not leave my dds to read JW on their own before this age and have read many with them and enjoyed discussing the various moral issues and problems many (make that most) of the characters have. I think it has made my dds more thoughtful and understaqnding of kids who do not have the advantages they take for granted.

However parents should realise that some JW books are most definitely for the teen reader. DD had "Kiss" given to her when she was 10. Luckily I read it to her and was able to change some of the text as I went along as it was a bit close to the bone in places.

Having said all this I absolutely love JW and really enjoy reading them to my dds.

The Tracy Beaker in the books is a much more loveable character than on the tv.

Having said that the last few episodes of the very last series were very poignant.

pointydog · 19/06/2008 22:12

With all sorts of books, we show children how to deal with unpleasant characters. And then we start to turn the tables a little and introduce some nice elements to unpleasant characters, which is interesting and exciting.

squilly · 19/06/2008 22:57

We did Tracy Beaker, and it did rub off a bit, but my dd was 6 and did understand that TB was the way she was because her mummy didn't love her and left her alone. I stressed that children who were brought up by mummies and daddies who loved them didn't need to shout to get attention. It helped us to reinforce family values, if anything.

I also explained that care homes aren't like this in the real world. They're much more horrid (just in case dd wanted to run off and join one...like a commune or something).

We inherited the words 'bog off' from Beaker which was a bit worrying at the time. Let's face it, it's hardly uplifting, but coming from a council estate in my youth, I was using much worse language at 7. And it is kind of useful for those f-bomb moments when you have to say something to express your rage but want something innocuous in front of the kids.

I don't watch the 'stupid' programme, because I don't like the word. That may sound a bit puerile, but I can hardly say 'we don't say stupid in this house' then let dd watch a programme that's based on the word. Anyway, it's pretty horrid!

The JW books are all on dd's bookshelves, but we've read none of them. We started with one but it had a scene in where someone gets mugged or attacked (can't remember now), but was shocked at it, so put it away and 'lost' it. They're being kept til dd's older though as she may decide this is her kind of thing.

Hedz, on the other hand, is really funny. It's a bit irreverent and a bit daft, but I quite like that. I love the Rooney twins and the Tiger Woods sketches. Though my favourite is Gordon Ramsey. For weeks we went around saying 'makes mommy angry...but mommy stays calm'. DD thought it was hilarious.

MrsWeasley · 19/06/2008 23:00

It is banned in our house. If my DD watches it she "becomes" shouty just like tracy beaker

FluffyMummy123 · 19/06/2008 23:01

Message withdrawn

squilly · 19/06/2008 23:02

Icod...don't mince your words LOL!

Tortington · 19/06/2008 23:02

d and i used to like tracey beaker