Do you know what your children are watching?

My son watches Avatr all the time and we have al,st all of the DVDs. They don't teach anything about the Hindu religion in the cartoons. Heck, I have never even sat down to connect the two until you brought this up. Even if it did teach something about their religion, how is that a bad thing? Kids need to be exposed to different thoughts and ideas about every subject. They need to leanr how to draw their own conclusions and should not just be fed what their parents believe. I don't think kids should be drones in front of the TV and their parents should be invovled and know what they watch. However, I see a major difference between "Avatar" and a religious fanatic preaching about God.

I don't see what the big deal is? As a Christian, I don't mind my child learning about other religions. But it is the parents responsibilty to watch the shows first. Decide if they should watch the show. I watched all types of cartoons growing up. I've been watching the older cartoons on Boomerang that most of us grew up watching and I never realized how violent they are and some of those are from the 50'S! It is the parents job to make sure the child is raised with morals and guidelines. If you do a good job, TV will not affect who they become. That is the parents job. My parents gave us a lot of room and let us watch what we want--well within reason. But TV never shaped who me and my brother were. My parents did that.

well, all parents should know what their children watch. i don't mind them watching things that teach them. learning that man evolved from a single cell organisim is what they learn in school anyway, and i really don't mind my children learning about other religions. i haven't seen Avatar the Last Air Bender, but i'm sure its a good anime. i watch everything my children do. like them, i love cartoons and love watching tv. as long as you teach them that some of the things people do on tv isn't right and of course you limit the viewing to things only suitable for their age, everything should me okay. as long as i'm watching it, and i aprove its okay. i actually like some of the cartoons they watch. i might not really like some of the others, like Ed, Edd, and Eddy, but i can see that my child knows that the things they do on there are wrong, since he comes to me saying, "Mommy, eddy not doing nice things, he shouldn't do that" i makes me proud. i sometimes get sick of parents blaming the media on things their children do. if you let your kids watch tv, at least know what they're watching.

I've seen Avatar before, and it's not half as big of a deal as you think. It's fantasy. Teach your kids the difference between fantasy and reality, and you won't have problems. Sheltering children from everything leads to screwed up children.

I like to control what my kids watch that is why I don't have a broadcast TV, a cable or anything. We watch DVDs and pick them together. We control the quality and my kids don't have to watch the commercials either. I would think these cartoons are still better then the other TV with F words as well a lot of the other stuff on tv these days. For me to control my kids from watching it is we don't have a tv or a cable. The END!

i would have never guessed that the cartoon avatar is derived from the hindu religion.My brother watches it an i dont really know if its throwing bad examples in his mind or not.

what is wrong in watching that man evolved from a single cell. Its good tht they get their facts straight these days. My son watches many cartoons, I avoid letting him watch real bad ones with gory creatures or ots of voilence but rest if its educative I don't mind. Infact they come to know so much from the cartoons. Its good if kids are learning about their or other religions from cartoons too, they can ten choose whatever religion they wish to follow or be liberated from all the misconceptions about religions. I do have fix timings for him to watch his cartoons as hje has to study and do soe outdoor activity too. we go out to as afamily and my whole family watches Tom and Jerry when it comes up. I don't think his TV life is interfering in any way as he keeps making crafts that he watrches on fingertips show and even dexter's lab teaches him quite a lot of things. I was amazed to find his knowledge about planets so up to date. He says he saw it on TV. If its educative and some fact that he will learn sooner or later, I don't see any problems what so ever. Where did you think man evolved from?

My wife and I are very involved in what are kids watch on tv. We constantly look to see what they are watching and tell them the channels that we approve of. We need to monitor what they are watching because some ids shows still teach bad things and we dont want them to learn bad things from the tv. We also watch alot of tv with them

You mean Avatar: The Last Airbender? I love the storyline, and surprisingly, even though it's from Nickleodeon, the cartoon is better suitable for teenagers. Kids below 10 won't probably understand the storyline. Even I myself found the cartoon interesting. And I don't find anything in the cartoon that connects itself to any religion, the only thing I see is the close connection to the eastern culture, which I think very nice.

One should monitor what their children watch. I don't see the danger of letting children watch cartoons. The world is a great big place and they will eventually learn abouot all sorts of things. To be honest, there are good lessons to be learned everywhere. It's not like other religions are all evil heathens. As for the evolved thing... Unless you hide your child from science, they will be taught that eventually. You would also want to be aware of so called christian programing though. Not everyone who claims to be a good christian is. Pat Robertson for example makes claims that he receives messages from God. These messages don't come true, which says that either Mr. Robertson is lying or that God isn't real. Mr. Robertson sells a lot of products and makes a lot of money so he uses and abuses good people's faith in a quick sickening way (like to set up a gold mining company in africa, to buy a race horse, etc) I do very much like the idea of family time instead of letting the tv (or video games or whatever) act as babysitters for the kids. Thanks for starting this interesting discussion.

yes i must agree that cartoons often does not reflect reality because it is supposed to be that way --- fun! now what we can do is talk to our kids not to take those things seriously and just laugh it off. but we must also be aware that a lot of adult-oriented cartoons are springing up and the contents are really mature which is so not appropriate for children, these are the types of cartoons that we should be wary of

First, I would like to note my own bias on the issue. I LOVE "Avater": the last air bender! I love most forms of Anime and Japanime. Further I love cartoons in general esp. if they teach me something about another culture. Last bit of bias, is that I am neither Christian nor any other typical religion. I have currently become a Spiritual Networkist, that is apart of an emerging religion dedicated to freedom of all religion on the stance that all religions and belief systems are equally valid. The Spiritual Networkist actively seeks out other ways of life in an attempt to immerse themselves in that way of life to learn it by active participation. In cases were this is not entirely possible the Spiritual Networkist will find some way to work hand in hand with the people of this other way of life and learn from them through co-operation, and friendship. Such co-operation would be most often done through engaging in charity work with those of other beliefs. We believe that our own Spiritual development is in part dependent upon the quality of the friendships we establish with those who are different from ourselves. So my own way of seeing things no doubt reflects the above life stances as I'm sure your way of perceiving things also reflects the stances you have chosen in life. I was also once a Christian so I know a bit about that way of thinking too. As for Avatar you are right that some Hindu belief is mixed in with this show. You also have to look at what kind of beliefs are mixed in there as not all of those beliefs are popular Hinduism. Some of the myth woven into this cartoon even comes from other paths like that of the daoist and confusian. Still everything in the cartoon is diluted into something not quite textbook accurate, which is done for the fun of stirring the imagination. You are also right that we need to help our kids understand what they see on t.v. Then t.v. can be a powerful learning tool. I plan to talk to my daughter at the end of every t.v. show as soon as she is old enough to communicate with me about it. I disagree on adding a slant to how the child views the subject matter learned though. I believe that this limits the development of the child's intelligence do to limiting what the child will accept as truth. I believe we should give our children all the details from numerous perspectives and let them decide for themselves. I believe that the combined effect of all the influences and the balancing effect of the healthy parent child relationship and natural developmental stages will lead the child to effectively choose their own productive truth.

I think it's rather sad that people try and limit what their children watch. It's silly to think that people find cartoons horrible and dont let their children watch them. I don't see any hints of religion in Avatar. I think it's silly that you sit and analyze that show to the point of it not being a show anymore. I don't know where you're getting it's part of the Hindu religion either..if you knew it better, you'd know that's not it..in fact, it's part of Japanese culture and it depicts karate type moves...it does not have anything to do with religion.

Thank you for bringing this up. I didn't know about avatar. At least I am forewarned.

Well I think it is good that you are taking a stand for your families sake. But dont stop there. Be sure that video games are being monitered as well. And no matter what is on the television or on the video game to much of that each day is harmful to them. Short tv time and plenty of book, puzzles, family outings, etc.....

Well I think it is good that you are taking a stand for your families sake. But dont stop there. Be sure that video games are being monitered as well. And no matter what is on the television or on the video game to much of that each day is harmful to them. Short tv time and plenty of book, puzzles, family outings, etc.....

yes i heard and i saw that my kid also wacth the cartoon film which the title is avatar in the television,but i do not know is from the primarily Hindu religion

Yes indeed. some of the cartoons are misleading. but its often difficult to sit with the students and watch it completeley, to realize which is good and which is bad. It will be better, if somebody create a list of good cartoons and timings.

i agree with you. though i haven't heard of the avatar. instead of letting your child watch tv the wholeday or any other movies, let him do some outdoor games, socialize with kids his age. they need it as much as watching tv. you also let him develop his muscles by playing.

i never knew anything about that so thank you for opening my eyes and alerting me on what my children may be watching even thought they don't watch avatar or alladin they still may be atking things in from other cartoon i will have to talk to my children to see what they are watching.