Dora the Explorer, Wolf Blitzer, Aliens or Halo?

I have a relative who has a 4 1/2 year old daughter who they are trying to raise aware and cosmopolitan, both. They let her experience life as it presents itself which led me to the question for this thread.
At age 2 1/2 she came into the room as we were watching a repeat of Aliens, the second one, you remember, "Game Over Man!". She was not at all afraid, no nightmares, nothing. Mind you she had been used to watching shows like Dora the Explorer, Wonderpets, and Backyardagains for about a year before this now. Well Dora does some interesting stunts on her show some of which can be dangerous, like when a 3 1/2 year old tries to climb things as Dora does so often.
As time progressed they gave her more liberties such as watching Gremlins, Lord of the Rings 3 and the like, all of which she seems to be fine with. She knows the difference between fiction and non-fiction or at least seems to.
Well last year I took some time off to help babysit her (it was a rough time for the family) and during that time began playing Bioshock 1 & 2. She immediately wanted to watch and play and even though it is a bit racy for a 4 year old she still didn't show any real problems or nightmares, nothing.
She does gravitate toward cartoons and Super Mario and she has no real problems with the violence portrayed in video games and movies. Whether it is pinning a humanoid in the face to a wall with a speargun in Bioshock 2 or watching Starship Troopers, she gets it, it's not real.
The other night on CNN, or one of those channels, they were showing something while me and my brother-in-law were talking. She woke up and sat on the couch without us seeing or hearing her. Well she started crying and was terrified, she woke up several times that night with nightmares. It affected her deeply.
The news is reality, it shows us what we all do. I can't comprehend that a 4 1/2 year old could have the comprehension to know the difference of what is reality and what isn't from looking at a screen i.e. movie or the news. Years ago they said cartoons were too violent for kids, so they toned them down to just educational 'fluff'. Now they want to attack video games for the same reason. So what is it, are they going to change movies and the news also next.

So my question is what do you think is worse for kids? Video game violence, cartoons, the news or movies/tv?
I thought I knew, but now I'm starting to question it. . .

I also found it strange that some parents would let their kids see 'Passions' which is basically a snuff film, but be at the point of hysterics if their kids saw something like Lord of the Rings. I don't get it!?!

I am very into video games my mother raised me on them with the Atari, Mario, later being Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.
Me and my god daughter always play games like Castle Crashers&Borderlands her two fav games and she is fine with it.

The only thing I do not let her do is play in online games alone as I've run into many creepers/pedos.

I find it funny that a parent can get all bothered by the content of a video game but be completely clueless to that fact there could be a real life pedo playing in the "acceptable games" like Animal Crossing or Little Big Planet with their kids online, talking to them, getting close to them and grooming them for whatever their sick minds want.

I think as long as a child is well educated and has no underlying development issues and they can process what is going on it should be left up to the parents.
Sure there are somethings a child just simply shouldn't be exposed to but honestly it's the things that go in on the own child's home and environment that is what effects them greatly in the future.
Examples would be, drug abuse, domestic violence, unstable relationships and much worse things.

I am a dual diagnosis counselor who often works with children 9-18 years of age and the things these kids see in their own homes make me literally sick at times and break down and cry for instance I treated a 14 year old boy who was being mainlined heroin by his father, or a mother who was selling herself and children sexually for money or another young girl who was born into a family of criminals and came home to her entire family slain.

Honestly, we our the ones who our screwing up our children not the video games, movies or music.
It's real life that's the problem and people not wanting to accept their failures, mistakes, and simply out right being bad parents.

I'm not just pointing the finger either, I can honestly say that I will most likely never have kids of my own because I know that I am no where near being a fit parent(mentally, financially) and I would not be able to be able to live with myself putting my burdens onto my kids and causing them pain and fear and later problems in their adult lives.

It's one big huge cycle - nature vs. nurture.

The 3 worst thing for kids:
1) Their parents.
2) Who they grow up with.
3) What they grow up with.

What they see on TV, what they read and hear from their peers is (almost) uncontrollable.
However, what they learn from their parents, family and friends as they grow up defines a person more then any amount of "violent" TV or games.

The parents of this child seem to understand that. My assumption is if the child see's something that disturbs them, she would go talk to her parents about it. That's how she understands the difference between "real" and "make believe".

That little rant out of the way, News is by far the worst. I've had my little sister (10) in hysterics because of the stuff on the news (mainly global warming, wars, etc).

Really I can't believe it I mean think about how can a little girl get Bioshock when they have to ask an id for kids under 18?

reply to post by starwarsisreal


They were my games, not hers!

She just loves to play them with me now.

reply to post by AnteBellum


As a mother of three (almost) grown up children and a very young one I definately have strong personal views on this. I say personal because in the end it's up to the parents to do what they think is best. As for my point of view, we should let children be children. Innocent and carefree. There will be time enough for them to understand the horrors this world holds. This dosn't mean they don't need to understand "stranger danger" etc, but to expose young minds to gore and violence, in my opinion, is not healthy.