Children+"Censorship"

So you got those obsessive helicopter parents that shelter children from anything that is the slightest challenging or controversial, and then you got very loose parents who are like, eh, whatever, my kid can handle it.

My question is, where on the spectrum would you fall? Would you hide sexuality and other "adult" concepts from your kid, or let him/her explore them on his/her own without restriction?

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.

I'd probably be pretty relaxed about it, but it would depend on the kid. If the kid was timid and easily disturbed (which I was), I'd probably be a bit stricter.

Also, I'd probably be more relaxed about talking to the kid about whatever than I would about letting them actually watch violent or adult content. I wouldn't want to shelter them, but there are probably limits to what it's sensible to show an impressionable kid on a screen.

edited 26th May '11 6:00:22 PM by BobbyG

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I say if they want porn and gory video games let them have them.

"Had Mother Nature been a real parent, she would have been in jail for child abuse and murder." -Nick Bostrom

The problem is what is "adult" is different for everyone...worse, many "adult" elements in the media these days looks like they're only meant to entertain 13 year olds rather than adults, despite being rated "Mature"...

Also, what would you label stuff like homosexuality? Without the lesbian sex that is. As in, just plain two characters in a same-sex relationship. Is that "adult"?

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

I'd say absolutely not, homosexual content should be treated the same way as heterosexual.

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Yet when you look at the media...many instances or the slightest hints of homosexuality is wiped out. Wait, I got the point of the thread wrong.

---

But I stand by my point. It's harder than it looks to classify certain things as "adult".

For example, if an "Adults Only" game was made, yet was so juvenile about it's handling of gore and sex that only a 13 year old would like it, yet due to the gore and sex is upped to an M rating. What is the game for?

That said. Censorship is pointless. No matter how bad it may be, it's useless and only gets in the way of the people who wants something.

Censoring adult content is useless, since any kid can just google "lesbian rampage" while turning off safe-search. And censoring gore in video games is useless because Bit Torrent. And any kid with an older sibling will have access to all the violent video games they want.

edited 26th May '11 6:11:39 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

Like my mother was with so extremely relaxed and willing to let me see all sorts of shit. Just a bit more consistently so about it. My mom would switch back and forth from "YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING EVER" to "WHOO YEAH!!!" every now and again. It was...odd. So I could sometimes watch South Park and sometimes not and it just confused the fuck out of me and made me angry.

Like Bobby said though it depends on the kid though. If the little bugger is easily disturbed by things then hiding things a bit might be good for them...

I will not place stronger restrictions on gay things. But then I am gay as fuck so...

If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, then that's their business. We know what we're doing. - Achaan Chah

My son is five. He's not getting into M-rated content until he's at least 7.

Seriously, all I have to do is observe his behavior after he watches a violent movie or video game and I know he's not mature enough to handle it. He was getting in trouble for a while in preschool for "shooting" everybody. Similarly with language. He's already picked up stuff, and not even from me, but I do not want him thinking it's okay for him to talk that way around other folks.

No matter how I feel about it personally, we live in a world where people will get really upset if your kid is spouting dirty language or threatening to stab people.

We tell him that when he gets old enough to live on his own, he can decide how he wants to behave. Until then, what we say goes.

As far as sexual content, we'll tell him as much as he's able to understand, and heck, I'm more than happy to show him some guys in a loving relationship as opposed to guys shooting holes in each other.

edited 26th May '11 6:27:46 PM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I'd keep the gory and sexual stuff away from them, to keep their sanity. However, I'll let them freely read "coniversal" YA books that deal with stuff like homosexuality, death...

That's why you get the "Don't say these words around other people or they'll get upset" point across instead of the "these words are bad don't say them" point across.

It's like teaching a kid when it's okay to be naked. Being naked is not inherently bad, but it's not a good idea to be naked in front of other people.

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.

Well, right, exactly.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

@OP: I fall more under the "My kid can handle it" end, but there's a logical limit. I see parenting as preparing your kid to survive without you, but there's always some protecting one should do.

As to media; sex yes, violence no. And it would be a "not in this house" rule; I can't control what they do at other people's houses, but I can control what they take in when they're home. Besides, by the time they are being actively social, if I've done my job right they'll have a good grasp of what to believe and what to dismiss.

Overprotective parents piss me off; they're above abusive parents (duh), but not by much. And overprotective "Crusader Parents" (the type that try and get things eradicated from the Earth just because they don't want their kids to see them) can go hang themselves.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

I feel like the difference between "overprotective" and "prudent" in this case is the difference between trying to pretend that these things don't exist at all, versus limiting a child's exposure to things he's not capable of dealing with yet.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

@Fighteer: I'd agree with you there's a line, but children are far more perceptive and intelligent than adults tend to give them credit for. There's a reason for the old saw about "out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom".

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

But in most cases, it's not "children being unable to handle things they see", and more "they're horrible parents".

A little bit of parenting goes a long way. Most the complaints Moral Guardians have can basically be traced back to them being unfit parents to begin with. Or loads and loads of misinformation.*

edited 26th May '11 6:59:16 PM by Signed

"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."

@Fighteer: My guess is that the line is when you start demanding unreasonable things of others in the name of protecting your child.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

Porn and the like can wait until I am no longer legally responsible for them.

Adult themes like sex scenes in the movies and the like will likely wait until they start into their teens or show enough maturity that they can handle the material without causing problems.

For violence in media yeah more of the same. If my kid shows enough maturity to not be stupid about it why not.

Who watches the watchmen?

I'd be "My kid can handle it, he can differentiate between reality and fiction" But that's because my parents are overprotective.

UN JOUR JE SERAI DE RETOUR PRÈS DE TOI

Well I'll probably be more on the loose side. My mom was strict in theory, but not really. I also have a lot of back lash because at my old school there were a lot of kids whose parents thought everything was going to corrupt their child, and so they banned them from watching anything "inappropriate" which seemed to backfire most of the time and lead to them doing the inappropriate things.

I'd simply be more open on many things. All the kids would have to do is ask and I'll give the answer to the best of my ability no matter how adult the topic is.

Now I will make a deviation for this and I will teach my kids to swear like soldiers, because sailors are god-damn pussies in the fine art of colorful language.

Pretty similar to Bobby G.

I'd show/expose to whatever I thought was appropriate enough for how sensitive they were. That is, pretty relaxed overall.

Genkidama for Japan, even if you don't have money, you can help![1]

My parents say that as long as our behavior doesn't suffer because of it, we can be exposed to whatever we want. That's why my younger brother has been playing M-rated video games since he was 9.

Would you kindly click my dragons?

Thought I should post this since it is on-topic, kinda...

Kinda NSFW:

EDIT: I'm sorry I Completely Missed the Point in the post.

I personally would allow my kids (if I had any) to play violent videogames or watch violent/sexual entertainment as long as they were up to it. If they weren't I wouldn't push them on the issue, and if they had any questions, I would try to answer them in a honest way.

edited 26th May '11 10:37:22 PM by tclittle

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."

I won't ever censor content: I'm no Moral Guardian, and I'd much rather apply the .357 treatment to my brains than become one.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

I think it depends on the kid. I know my parents' attempts to shelter me from sex and violence were counterproductive, but I gather that in some ways I had mature thought processes long before I was biologically mature.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful