Is this bad parenting?

[sadies93]

My friend has 4 kids, the oldest is a 10 year old boy. He is not like most 10 year olds. He does not like watching Disney, nick, nickjr or cartoon network. He loves watching channels like USA, A&E, history, and stuff like that. Some of his favourite shows are storage wars, suits, law & order, myth busters, psych, burn notice and parking wars. His mother doesnt watch tv except at night when the kids are asleep, she allows them an hour and a half of tv time then they have to go play outside or play with toys etc. All of her younger children love the shows like ICarly, spongebob and looney tunes but her oldest has never been interested in "kid" shows.
Well recently she has been getting alot of critizism for her son liking the tv that he likes, she has been called a bad parent and dumb for allowing her 10 year old to watch those shows. Her mother in law recently told her that she is a horrible person and should not allow her child to watch USA and such at all.  Other than the tv he watches he is a normal 10 year old, loves sports, loves getting dirty and such, its just the shows he likes that make him different from most kids his age.

Is my friend being a bad parent for allowing her child to watch the shows ive mentioned?

[kai0912]

i believe those disney shows are.mindless entertainment if watching those shows that he likes intrests him she not being a bad parent.... maybe he is learning something from them.... to me disney and nick do nothing for the growing mind

[Heatherm4]

That's crazy that someone would call that bad parenting. I think the only thing bad about it would be if she let him constantly watch tv and that was the only thing he did. But like you said, they only get a certain amount of time to watch tv.
Those shows say to me that he is mature and smart for his age. He is watching something that he can actually learn from....some of those kid shows are a bit pointless in my eyes.

[mikaleen]

I think I'd rather my daughter watch storage wars than ICarly.  Those Disney shows aren't even "kids" shows anymore, and are mostly geared towards girls anyway, so no wonder he's not interested.  If we watch any cartoons it's usually on Boomerang so I can watch with them and feel all nostalgic singing along to Scooby Doo and the Smurfs. =)

[kelsebby92]

My mother is not a bad mother and my favorite movies in kindergarten were children of the corn and bride of chucky.. I did grow out of those movie tho.

[Jennyjoelogan]

I dont think she is being a bad mother. He is learning alot more in life he is 10 and is not a small kid. I hate people that judge others without knowing that person telling her she is a bad mother, we all discipline our kids different. My 3 year old son has never watch tv he doesnt like to watch cartoons no other channel but what he loves is unfixing and fixing things he like to fix cars he is a mechaniq.  But like other people here said for the mother to sit next to her son atlist for a day to explain the tv shows ect.

[sadies93]

I agree, kids shouldnt be allowed to just watch tv constantly. When my friend told me what people were sayin to her about it I was dumb struck I didnt think it was that big of a deal.

[trying43]

Well I guess I must be the worst mother of the year cuz my 8 yo loves history channel military channel natgeo wild channel and the western channel over cartoons any day! Lol and outside time is required daily at our course not piled in front of the tv.  

[sadies93]

When i was younger i remember watching alot of horror movies and such and i turned out fine. i remember watching nightmare on elm street and halloween when i was like 8 years old.
He doesnt watch the murder shows really, or the really graphic ones, he likes the show disappeared alot but i dont think thats really no where as near graphic as first 48 tho. He also loves the Americas Most Wanted show, he says one day he may see one of them bad guys on the show and turn him in and become a hero lol, hes been watching that show since he was 7 or 8. His mom is always near by when they watch tv, but she uses there tv time to clean the house, but she always tells her kids that anytime they have questions about anything they can always ask her, and her and her oldest are really close aswel.
I dont think the shows he watches effects him negatively, i think they effect him more positively than anything because he knows alot of interesting things from the shows like storage wars and myth busters. He's always telling me about something he thought was interesting on them shows

[FirstUterally]

awesome point, mamabear! ive seen my stepboys mom turn the tv on in the morning and not turn it off ALLL day. some parents dont limit tv at all because its easier to use the tv as a babysitter. i completely agree that shes being a better parent than someone that allows their kid to watch "kid" shows all day. i hate that label anyways- "kid" show. i watch 'em. i love me some spongebob but i dont run around blowing bubbles all day... whats the difference??

[MamaBear0612]

Lol at Mr. Smarty Pants, but I'll keep that in mind in case my car overheats. :D

I have a little cousin who has been a Star Wars fanatic since he was a toddler, and he's around 8 now...he loves the old 1970s movies, can quote them line by line and have serious discussions about Jedi life lol. Some kids just have different interests than others; I actually think by limiting his TV watching overall, she's being a better parent than a lot of parents out there.

[FirstUterally]

besides spelling "correctly" wrong, i forgot to mention that hes been watching those shows since he was 9 or 10...

[FirstUterally]

i have a 12 year old stepson that doesnt really like the "kid" shows either. he likes mythbusters, dirty jobs, how its made, pawn stars, etc. i dont think its bad parenting and it actually makes conversations with him really interesting. hes always telling me really cool stuff that i didnt know before. hes even told me how to coreectly handle my car overheating when i was freaking out and had noooo clue what to do. (btw- dont turn the car off! turn the heat on full blast w the windows down. apparently- it pulls the heat off the engine.) i wouldve blown my engine if it wasnt for my little smarty pants in the backseat!!

[MamaBear0612]

I probably would watch it with him, just so she can have discussions with him if something comes up in a show he might need to talk about/think about...an adult to help him interpret. But it's not like she's letting him watch HBO adult material. I grew up with a lot of cable shows (my dad was a cable salesman so we had the good cable lol), including some with pretty serious adult topics, and I'm a pretty decent adult. :)

Honestly, I'd be more concerned with some of the video games young boys play...have you checked out all the horrible violence in those things?

[hairdid]

And i say murder shows bc first 48 comes on A&E

[hairdid]

I have a 11 year old cousin who loves things like that. I guess the murder shows are not that great to watch but if u think about it the 10 year old is going to be a teen sooner then u think. He's maturing and watching things that interest him. I guess it really depends on what he's getting from the shows. Maybe she can watch it with him and ask questions.