To stop my ds from watching Cartoon Network?

[chocolateismyonlyweakness]

My ds enjoyed watching Cartoon Network, but I felt Ben 10 in particular was a bad influence - Ben would say his cousin is a stupid girl and push her, for instance - my ds said 'yes, he's like me!' and I was concerned about this and stopped him watching it. He's 6. Do you mumsnetters think TV directly influences behaviour?

YABU - aren't all 6 year old boys are into ben 10? surely he is going to hear worse in the school playground.

The thing with Ben 10 is that he is often a bit of a twat, and always gets his comeuppance, and gwen the cousin is proved right. I've often wondered if there wasn't some girly network happening here! generally its evenhanded about moral and sexual politics. Point out to him that gwen is in the right and Ben should have listened to her...and that grandpa max agrees...

A wee bit. I love Ben10. He always get his comeuppance for being obnoxious. Having said that, there's some really crappy stuff on Cartoon Network so I've switched to Disney Channel (for the DC's, not me).

x-post salome!

ditto what Riven said!
dd loves Tom and Jerry as I did, but she's not shown any violent tendencies (she's 6 in July).

glad I'm not alone in my reading of it Dothis!

I tried to stick purely to nice, sappy, 'no ads' CBeebies, but DS discovered Cartoon Network, Disney and Nick Jr one afternoon when he found the remote control (gah!) and loves some of the programmes, so I let him watch them.

DS (4) finds Ben 10 scary, but adores Tom & Jerry, btw. It's obviously a classic for a reason .

Personally, I find the fluffy pink Strawberry Shortcake stuff far more irksome.

goodness, my 2.5year old ds loves Ben10 (and Tom and Jerry!). He is also subjected to Spongebob Squarepants by his big sister (5.5years)

I'm not mad keen on Cartoon Network, or Jetix for that matter. there seems to be a lot of mindless rubbish on those channels. But i don't stop DSs watching them (they're 6 and 4). I just make sure they don't watch too much or it.

Ta for replies, am open to listening to all opinions. I used to watch Tom and Jerry as a child as well!
My ds was being aggressive for various reasons and I felt Ben 10 didn't help, but perhaps I should watch an episode again.

I've banned Jetix as DD's behaviour was definetly worse afetr watching it and has improved since stopping watching it. There are loads of studies that show that TV influences behaviour.

I don't think YABU - but then I wouldn't, because I have blocked all the cartoon channels (Cartoon Network, Jetix, etc, etc) on our Sky box because I hated the effect that they had on my DS (also 6). He has a tendency to 'zone out' when watching TV anyway, but these channels, seriously, made him agressive as well as zoned out (I am talking immediately afterwards, not long-term effects). My decision was not about the detailed content of any given programme (I couldn't stand watching for long enough to check it out) but the general effect and also the excessive amount of advertising.

Yes my DS likes Ben 10, and yes he 'plays' it and occasionally watches it at friends houses, but he is happy with CBBC and the Disney channels at home.

stealthsquiggle my ds enjoys animal programmes on CBBC!

I wonder if some children are affected more by these programmes than others? ds used to start shouting and screaming when the ads came on, he was hyped up and aggressive. I didn't watch a programme of Ben10 all the way through, so at some point I will do so to see what the other mumsnetters mean. For my ds I am not sure he will absorb the complexities of the storyline and just remembers Ben10 giving the aliens what for and his attitude.