How far should we censor television for our children?

Like alot of people will say, you can patrol everything your child watches on TV, If you were going to do that, you might at well either watch TV all the time with your kids (or something like that), or keep the TV off. I have 3 kids, and the only one who really watches TV is my oldest. She mostly watches Disney Channel. I know that even Disney isn't 100% safe anymore, but it's safer than some stuff a kid could just watch. You just have to keep an eye on what they do watch.

My boyfriend and I didn't have the cable or satellite hooked up in our home for the last 2 years! At first I thought it was ridiculous but we saved a ton of money and we used netflix to watch tv shows and movies with no commercials! I agree that there is way too much stuff on tv that children should not see! I definitely think it's best to be vigilant about what our children see on the screen. Teaching them from a young age what is acceptable for viewing and what is not will help them make good choices for themselves in the future. When I was a child my mother was very strict about what we could watch on tv and even my friends were often shocked about what we were and were not allowed to see but in the end it made me a much better person. I spent more time reading and writing, to this day I can't watch excessively vulgar or violent shows without feeling like it needs changed, plus it instilled good values in me for my own children's sake! I don't think we can be too careful about what our children see.

the parent should have complete faith in themselves to know where and when not to censor.

We shouldn't always think about the Children as they probably won't be watching. If we ruled on everything just in case children may be watching, not much would be cleared. Children aren't the prudes, we must remember that.

I think that parents should closely monitor what they children watch on televsion. This is especially true int eh esrly informative years of growing up. This doe s not men that we as parents should force our children to watch shows that we like or shows that we want our children to like. There should still be free choices. Taking care and control in those choices will make the viewing better for both parents and children.

Actually, it's really hard for us parents to guide our children all the time. In televesion shows, we should really see to it that they are watching good shows or if there are sensitive parts, let's see to it that we are there to explain it to them, or anybody older than them. Kids now are really intelligent. They are easy for them to learn new things. Let's just make sure that we are always available to explain to them whatever they are experiencing/watching.

There is a difference between censorship and simply promoting a healthy environment for children. I don't believe in outright banning anything. I do, however, believe in providing many positive options within the home. Some of the most educational books I read in my youth were books that were the sort that some would censor. I learned about other cultures, history, literature, religion and more as I devoured book after book. My horizons were expanded far beyond my little home town. It was, I think, television that inspired in me the desire to go to college. Neither of my parents had gone, nor had their siblings. If I ever have children, I know how I want to raise them. I know some of the books that I want to line their bookshelves. I know what I would like to pursue with them when we home school. I want for them to be strong in their faith, know about their cultural heritage and know about the world; I don't want for them to fall victim to the hyper-sexualization and rampant consumerism of this culture. However, nowhere in helping them on their paths to becoming good, fully capable adults is there a place for outright censorship; instead, there is room for guidance and growth.

I think parents are always going to have to look out for their own kids and decide what's appropriate for them to watch and what's not. You can't really trust daytime TV to be thinking about your children. Plus what flies for one mom probably isn't going to be fine for every Mom. Then there's the matter of what kids are ready to see, and it doesn't happen at the same age for every child. Basically, I don't think TV's going to look out for children, that's just going to have to be the job of the parents to censor the TV. As parents, I think it's well within your rights.

Actually, it is really hard to monitor every time the shows that our kids watch. In our country now, there is a program advisory about what the current show is airing - if it is G, PG, etc. My youngest son is now 8 years old and I try to explain to him scenes which are new to him. Sometimes we just can't avoid scenes that should really not be scene by our kids, but it can help them understand what is all about and explain it to them well. We do not have to expose them to those scenes all the time. If I think a certain scene is really way too off, I change the channel right away. The most TV show that my kids are watching is the WWE on cable. It is really violent, but you can see in the audience that there are kids, too. So what I tell my kids, it is alright to watch the show for as long as they do not imitate the moves that these wrestlers do. I think a constant reminder with our kids will help.