CBBC - Tracey Beaker - from what age?

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My daughter who will be 7 in Nov has started watching CBBC instead of Cbeebies. She has started to watch a bit of Tracey Beaker and i've tried to look at the website to see if this is age appropriate? what do you guys think? too young for her?
thanks

Ds is also 7. He watches it if it comes on and has never been bothered by it. My summary would be that its about a stroppy but sweet kid who takes pleasure in trying to be in charge but is actually a girl who needs a hug like any other. There's no proper bad language or detailed teenage issues and it can be quite funny.

I have a bit of a problem with it for anyone under about 9.
I don't think a 7 year old has really got the capacity to understand why these children get away with behaving and talking the way they do.

Jeez that sounds sanctimonious ......

I cannot STAND Tracey Beaker. All that sulking and shouting, and it's on ALL THE TIME.

The books are aimed at 9-11 year olds if that is any help.

yy pinkteddy - I also think part of the problem is that it is on a lot, and because it is such a long-running series, the context is never going to be understandable to the average child just catching episodes here and there

I agree with castille.

I refuse to have it on as it paints childrens care homes is some glorious brightly coloured fun place to be.

as not is

Never heard of tweenies, sorry Pixie.

I guess it's a personal choice on what you are comfortable with your children watching,I'm just not into Mrs Wilson's Tracey Beaker rubbish.

Weirdly - I object to TB because everyone seems to be shouting and being rude all the time.

DD1 is 6.6 and LOVES Tracy Beaker

DD2 is 3.10 and is vociferous in her regard for it

Neither of them get it. It's on early in the morning and they sneak into the lounge and stick it on before I wake

I have initiated a ban though, as DD1 was becoming quite artful in her imitation of the dreaded TB

It's a decent series, but not for a 6yr old... too grown-up for her

The children who are interested in watching it are not mature enough to understand that TB is so vile because she is unloved.

It also, as others have said, gives children the impression that growing up in care is all food fights and sleep overs.

In saying all that I do let my DCs watch it but I tell them I think it is drivel.

Well, My dd is 15 and I think is well past the Tracy Beaker watching stage-she also has a friend who has been through the care system so knows that tracy beaker 'care' scenario is a utter bullshit.

Ds is 7 and thankfully shows no enthusiasm for such tosh either.

BTW....TB is nothing to what a kids home is really like.

Most deff not all food fights and sleep overs....unfortunately

I loathe Tracey Beaker, and virtually all the J Wilson books I've read (and there are at least a dozen in the house) are duplicates of each other. My children have watched it - it is on all the time virtually (or Danni's House) and on non-stop repeat in the holidays - ut I dislike it intensely, for all the reasons named above. It is all about shouting and being rude and getting away with stuff and then saying sorry, and then doing it all again in the next episode. Her character is vile, and never improves: the programme never shows her progressing beyond treating adults like rubbish and then apologising after she has wrecked some event, or something; and I don't want children copying that.

I would try to put other options before my children before they switched that on, but I wouldn't stop them in the end. And the older they are to watch it, the better, because they'll realise what an unpleasant programme it is.

My dd, age 7, loves it. TBH i find it sad more than anything else. However i do explain to my dd what circumstances shape Tracey Beakers behaviour.

guys thanks for all the feedback

Imo it depends on the maturity of the actual 7yo. My dd at that age would have been perfectly capable of understanding why Tracey is damaged due to her particular circumstances and we would have used it as an opportunity to talk about difficult issues. Ds at the same age would probably have understood but found it too upsetting. Some other 7yos I know wouldn't understand but would (like some adults by the sounds of it) just see a child being disrespectful and getting away with it.

But then by that age, ds was dealing with some pretty traumatic issues in his own family.

cory - I do understand the context of TB, I absolutely didn't intend for it to come over that I didn't. but these issues are a bit complex for the average 7 year old to pick up from the TV series (I don't know about the books).

I think both adults and children get the context and that TB has had a difficult and emotionally damaging early childhood but episodes of TB are repeated "naughty tricks" or attention-seeking behaviour that is modelled as being entertaining, with a hint of sulky apology at the end. What it looks like to the average viewer is simply youngsters being cheeky to adults and "spoiling" things because they feel unloved. Because the naughtiness is entertaining, it sets it up as an example of things you can do if you're feeling fed up with the adults in your life, and it's fun and okay, and you get to say sorry at the end, and that makes everything all right. Most children watching TB aren't watching with a careful adult who will be talking to them about the issues raised.

I've always let all of mine watch TB.

They soon learned that I would not let them randomly shout "Shut your gob" Tracey Style.

I also discourage Tracy Beaker in my house - my 3 dds think she is wonderful sadly, and I don't want them emulating her.

I prefer MI High and Sarah Jane adventures on CBBC.

The books at least make some effort to explain why TB behaves in the way she does - and I think a 7 year old who is capable of reading the books (as many are) will be capable of understanding her behaviour, at least at a basic level.

The TV series, however, makes no real effort to give context to her behaviour. She's just a brat, and a brat who looks suspiciously stage school at that.