I never really thought about the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, being horrible, until today, when an ENT Surgeon that I work with said he won't let his kids watch it. Connor is 6 years old, and he' s been watching Spongebob for at least 3 years now. I don't know what the deal is with Spongebob, but kids just seem to go into a "trance" when they sit down to watch it. What is up with that?
BTW, the ENT surgeon that I work with has kids, all from the ages of 16 to 10. (4 kids in all). I would think that they might have missed the boat on Spongebob, and been a little too old for it, but I guess not.
We got into a heated discussion about Spongebob not being appropriate for school-age kids because of the domestic situations that are sometimes portrayed on the show. For example: Spongebob and Patrick once adopted something, (i can't exactly remember, but some kind of other sea animal).
I don't know what to think. I've watched Spongebob in bits and pieces, and although I think it's outright absurd , I don't see how it could really be that bad. It's better than watching cartoon network, which I do not allow my son to watch.
What do ya'll think? Am I making a mistake by letting Connor watch marathons of Spongebob? I'm thoroughly confused...
4 comments:
I'm on the fence about Spongebob. I use to watch Spongebob before I had children lol and I found it not very appropriate for young kids. One time Patrick said "Shut your piehole." Now that I have kids, I have found that my son likes watching it. I don't let him watch it all the time (he's 3) but whenever there is something on that is not appropriate, we talk about it. For example...many cartoons nowadays say the word "Stupid." We've taught my son from the beginning that the word "stupid" was a bad word. So whenever we are watching something and he hears that word, I talk to him about it not being very nice...and he agrees. Sometimes whenever he hears the word, I hear him saying something like "Awww that's bad!" So I guess if there is some structure and he knows what's right and what isn't...Spongebob can be ok to watch. Hope this helps, and sorry for such the long post!
ok - i don't have kids but our nephew watches it constantly! haven't spend much time paying attention, but i don't like some of the language. nothing filthy, just kinda wrong. nothing i would really like to hear the kids in my kindergarten class say to one another or me:)
You know I really don't know much about the cartoon...I do know both my two youngest children watched it. Lexi is into it now and she is 4. I really believe as long as we teach our children morals then I think our kids will be alright. We can't keep them away from everything...many parents say yes you can and I say no you CAN'T. We are not with them 24-7 so as far as what you let them watch should be up to you but whose to say they go to another friends house that they will not see this cartoon or any other. It all starts from what we as parents teach our children. They can hear things on tv, school, and even church but we are their parents and we can teach them right from wrong.
I agree with Ruth Ann with what she said...it's all about teaching what you believe.
Sorry if this sounds so repetative...it is hard to explain sometimes what to say.
My son is 10 years old and has been watching it for quite some time. I actually like SpongeBob! (much better than the dreadful Japanese cartoons that he likes). I also teach Kindergarten and see nothing wrong with the show. There are children who gasp in horror when a classmate says hate, stupid, oh my God, etc. Children are going to hear things that aren't appropriate to their values always. The key is for them to understand why!
I will continue to watch it, even after Tim stops!
take care,
Dawn
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