‘Beware of Dogs’ is a common signboard in India. This piece of news however, quite shocked me. And not because of the nature of crime per se. But the sheer age of the perpretators. How can boys of age 10 be so violent? What sort of upbringing do they have? In my opinion, its the parents of the boy who need to be punished, more severely than the children themselves! Reports say they were used to watching violence on TV.
Coming to think of it, every programme on every channel these days is inundated with violence.
Take a look at this seemingly innocuous Chota Bheem serial, which is very popular in India. Sonny has been watching this for nearly two weeks now, and you can imagine, why he has suddenly started ‘punching’ us!
Do you notice the amount of violence they are teaching little kids? What does a child know? Good.. bad.. they are all the same. The child only sees the ‘HERO’, Chota Bheem, bashing up another guy, and feeling very proud about it. Little does the child realise that the guy being hit is a ‘villain’ of sorts. So, what is it, that Chota Bheem is teaching children? Go, Bash Em Up!!
Or, this Ben 10 trailer.
The colours, the action… doesn’t it all simply reverberate with violence?!!
It is no wonder, then, that children these days are getting more aggressive and violent, than ever before. This is probably a bit of a lecture… ‘free advice’ if you insist.. but as parents, I think these are some small steps we can take, to make our children better people:
* Controlled TV programmes – I know of mommies who do not allow kids to watch TV at all. I think that’s quite extreme, because TV does teach a lot. Like the Playhouse Disney channels for example. So we could try to ensure our children only watch pleasant cartoons, and nothing violent.
* A vent for energy – Energy not channelised in the proper manner will most certainly cause problems for both the child and the parent. So, go out and kick that ball with your child. Or just take a walk down the road. Or go swimming, or something, that will physically tire out both of you, in a positive manner!
* Reinforce positive behaviour – Let’s practise basic manners (saying our please and thank you’s) and openly appreciate any positive behaviour in our children, so they KNOW that behaving well makes us all happy!
[Okay…End of serious post]
By the way, Sonny has just joined pre-school, and seems to have had his First Crush already!! A certain ‘Miss Vicky’ is the lucky girl 😉 and I can see stars in his eyes every time he mentions her name 😉
Writer-z-block 
30 replies on “Beware of Kids??”
true Pals… not only these generation kids… any kid watches teh violence while growing up accepts it completely.. I still remember how mad I was, when I watched those WWFs… 😦 😦
and little kid already had first crush.. great going 😀 😀 all the best for him 🙂 🙂
That piece of news is so devastating 😥 I hate when children are robbed off their innocence and grow up too fast. Violence in children is a big big problem all over the world and I seriously think most of it comes from TV and stupid Video games 😡
I totally and whole heartedly agree with your tips. At my house Cartoon Channel is locked bcoz of Ben10 and all that crap they show and my son gets to watch Playhouse Disney and PBS Kids; which is very informative and fun. Otherwise i stick to getting him DVD’s from the library.
ROFL at your son’s first crush and stars in his eyes…My son has even started saying that pink does look cute on girls
Love ke side effects I think 😉
That’s the problem with technology…Earlier generations were more ‘innocent’ because they were not exposed to TV…But there must be something in human nature which feeds on violence otherwise such programmes would not have been produced…
Agree with you, totally. The kids need to monitored and mentored on the goods and bads – it doesnt come by watching cartoons. Actually, cartoons are the worst.
First crush !!! WOW !!!! All the best Sonny !!! Theres more to come !!! 🙂
@ K: Its so sad that we live in a world where ‘violence’ is just ‘part of life’!!
Thanks for your best wishes to the Brat. He certainly needs it, as its his teacher!!! 🙄
@ Sakshi: Seriously…so much violence is fed into children through cartoons. It is disgusting and scary too. LOL @ your Sonny commenting on ‘pink suiting girls’. Wah wah!! Boys growing up way too fast for us to cope!
@ Bones: Very keen observation there! We do produce what is in demand, don’t we?!! Then, its a terribly vicious circle, and we have no way out 😦
@ Uma: True, cartoons are the worst!! Unless ofcourse we stick to Disney and Fairy tales! He he, certainly more crushes to come, Uma. All the best to us!!
Uma ,Do you watch a program called Sunaina in POGO(yeah i agree it is fun to watch).But still i feel that is too much for kids(especially for pre-teens)
Agree with u…Tv is a major ditraction and addiction kids have. It s major tussle but controlling wht they watch pays off in the long run.
A huge tussle, indeed, Nan! Both kids and parents are addicted to TV! Btw, thanks for dropping by 🙂
I don’t agree completely with this TV watching leading to violence. There are too many children who don’t resort to violence or take it in natural course in spite of watching these cartoons. There definitely exists something else to make children do the sort of thing that the news item talks about. Those are exceptional cases.
Children in the past when no cartoons or WWF existed also resorted to their fists, punching et al to solve their differences like kids of this era. Children have been drowned by other kids due to enmity when no TV existed. And many of those who watch cartoons and WWF are growing up to be normal kids. Personally I think, upbringing and parental communication, guidance, subtle teachings on whats acceptable whats not, whats reality and what’s not plays a role. The point is many parents don’t have the time, most importantly the patience, to teach those lessons. For every mother who cares, there are 1000 who use TV as a baby-sitter so they can do their work in peace. I won’t say just mother, fathers too as a child is the responsibility of both. Then there are grandparents who love to spoil and take pride in it!
I have seen enough fathers who don’t care a hoot what their little ones watch because they are selfish and want to watch programmes that are not meant for children and don’t care enough to make sure kids aren’t around. Serials where ghosts dismember humans and there is blood and gore are all watched by these kids. They also watch cold blooded murders on screen, and hear unsuitable things. I was amazed and saddened and angry to find a lot of young parents (with tiny and not-so-tiny tots) at a movie hall in Kerala listening to all that dialogue about incest and such. (I had even blogged on it) I wondered how the parents could let their tiny ones listen to it. If at all they walked into the theatre unknowingly, they could get up and walk out. Couldn’t they?? I have done that when I went to watch a movie without knowing what it was about and found the story line and conversations unsuitable for my children who were with me.
Guidance and firmness (appropriate with their age) in dealing with growing kids IS necessary. There is a saying in Malayalam, ‘mulayila nullikkalayanam’ It should be nipped in the stage of a bud or shoot. Inappropriate behavior from kids should be dealt with firmness right then, not be kept off for when the child grows up or when it is convenient for the parents methinks. Of course this is all my personal opinion! And that is underlined, in bold and italics too 😉
Me also thinks too much comment space has been taken up! My apologies! Its a topic close to my heart.
You do have a point, Shail (a looong point, nonetheless 😉 😉 ). There certainly is an inherent violent streak in children who exhibit violent behaviour.
All I am saying is, TV is far too violent these days, and only helps in children BELIEVING that ‘violence is part of life’. So, a child watching Chota Bheem automatically thinks its good to hit and bash up someone else! Now, how much of this he actually puts into practise, depends on his courage 😉 and his upbringing ofcourse.
You are bang on, when you say that ‘parents don’t have the time or patience’ to teach those lessons, and use the TV as a baby-sitter. Parents also believe this is a big, bad world, and so what is shown on TV is ‘not strange’. So when there is a gory fight sequence, they just watch without so much as batting an eyelid. And the children are right there, absorbing everything like a sponge!
I’m glad you took the trouble to comment in detail.. as it is a topic of importance to me too (as I am very dependent on TV to entertain my child, and am working on reducing this dependency!).
Way to go Sonny! :D.
Even I was shocked when I read this news. Yes, violence on TV does affect kids and yes violence will seem a lot more acceptable to kids when it is packaged in the form of cartoons. But that is just one of the factors, IMHO. I believe that these particular children were exposed to far more than cartoons. They are said to have had a “toxic” home life. At the ripe old ages of 10 and 11 they were already smoking pot and drinking and watching porn.
This news is indeed shocking Pals!
I agree that controlled TV watching helps, but they do get exposed to a lot of unwanted violence in school as well…
And some kids come from violent homes as well…
I agree with what Shail has written.
I guess, the control or the lesson that violence isnt the solution is what needs to taught and practised.
Way to go Sonny! How cute is he?!! 😀 😀
Am not sure if i comopletely agree with this “watching violent cartoons leads to violent kids” news… infact the other day read a news clipping abt how a guy committed suicide n they were blaming 3idiots for it… sometime back too i remember how bunch of kids kidnapped a classmate and held him ransom, finally ended up killing him .. and ppl were saying its got to do with watching TV serials!!
there are millions watching the shows, only odd kids end up doing some wacko acts..so, do we blame it on tv shows??? Yes, on one hand i do agree there is an increased violence in shows, more brutal than violent, like WWF… but family,friends around also add to how a child’s personality is moulded, right???
Anyways, just thinking aloud….!!
And awww, choo chweet, kiddo has a crush already… well, am sure there are many more to come!! have fun!! 😀
@ Dreamer: Isn’t that disgusting, Dreamer? That children of this age are so perverted and insane? I think the parents must be sentenced along with them!
@ Pix: True.. kids (no matter how protected they are at home) are ultimately exposed to gross violence, as a ‘way of life’ and this is awful!
@ Aarti: OMG…blaming ‘3 IDiots’ for the suicide of an idiot sounds rather idiotic 😉 I agree, upbringing is very critical, and so is inherent human nature. Sigh..if only we could rewind Time a little and make things move slower….
so u back huh? had a good time..missed ur posts…:))
I feel its all got to do with how you are brought up. I dont think I am crazy enough to do what those kids did even though I had seen the same kind of cartoons and shows back then. My parents were normal enough to have given me a decent upbringing ! 😀 😀
Ahem… normal and u in the same sentence vimmuuu dear??? ;)!! hahaha!! 😀
but yes, we also grew upwatching similar toons n movies.. but we havent killed anyone yet or done anything so crazy…only small time theft such as gettin friends[err,meeting the 1st time to swipe knife from a coffee shop…:D ]
Cartoons these days are unbelievably violent, Aarti. Must watch a episode of Chota Bheem for instance. You will end up believing that violence is good!
Hi Pal, they are doing a lot of research now on the effect of tv and computers on kids.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html I guess the real reason tv is hard to give up is coz parent sneed to watch it as well ! :0 good blog and keep writing 🙂
@ Pushy: Yip yip, am back 🙂 Thank you for missing me 🙂
@ Vimmu: I agree, with what Shail and you have said. Upbringing is very important, and TV is only one of the factors. But to think of the growing number of nuclear families, where parents rely more and more on TV rather than spending quality time themselves – now, that is not very comforting.
@ Pan: Bang on, bang on!! Parents are addicted to TV themselves..why blame the kids 🙂 High time we realised the impact of this habit, and change the way we entertain our kids. I, for one, am making a fresh start on this front!! Btw, thanks so much for dropping by, and leaving such encouraging words. You have a lovely blog as well, enjoyed reading a couple of posts.
Thats a horrible piece of news,Pals. I agree its in the upbringing. Communication plays a major role in it. I agree with shail completely. Its important that parents know what is happening not just in the lives but minds also,of their children. And that is possible only when they talk,allow their kids to open their hearts out freely.
A kid who witnesses his parents thrashing each other up,swearing and abusing each other,can also take a violent route like the two boys on the news item did. Because that is what he/she would be growing up watching.
I agree there are many tv shows which are misleading for the kids. I even find Tom & Jerry violent.Thats where parental policing comes in as you rightly pointed out.
In jist,there are factors much more than what Tv shows that influence in the shaping up of children.
LOl at your son’s crush! Namnam still refuses to shift her focus from Barney..sigh! 😀
Definitely, Deeps..a whole lot of factors shape up a child’s personality. TV is one of them, and luckily, this is controllable, to a certain extent! Let’s do it 🙂
Namnam is still hooked onto Barney? Lucky you.. wait a couple of years, and I’d like to know if you say ‘Sigh’ for the same reason or the exact opposite 🙂
oh dont even tell me about it pal, i have freaking going mad when I watch tv these days everything I see gets filtered from the point of view ojas watching it… and I am seriously thinking of cutting the cable from house…
i bought him the little ganesha CD the other day and damn from the first scene there is tons of violence and how can u forget nursery rhymes… this very moment I was writing a post on it… will be up tmrw…
I too, am surprised, Mon , at the shocking levels of violence in cartoons. Sonny says he wants to ball his fists and beat the bad guys. Luckily, he emphasises on ‘bad’ guys, but how do we explain to him, who is good and who is bad?! Is violence the way out?! Cutting cable is a brilliant idea, provided you have Disney Dvds available 😉
pre-school!? No way he has beaten me!!!!
Ya lots of violence..even movies now days..I don’t like the cartoons of today..swat cats, centurions etc was also about heros but was not about 1-1 combat or too much violence..they had other messages…
Beaten you? So what age did you have your first crush? Hmm…interesting 😉
Another interesting fact is that violence has improved by leaps and bounds.. earlier, violent cartoon would mean ‘theft of a jewel’. Today, a normal cartoon would feature kids being handcuffed in a dungeon (yewuuuuuuu?!!!) while the hero comes to rescue them!
will come back later 🙂
Okhay
I like some episodes of bheem.But i will say it is a dumb non brainy toon.I still love watching pink panther ,loony tunes,tom and gerry
About violence – Compared to programs like power rangers , blazing yoyo it is far better atleast harmless i will say.For my nephews i blocked most of the channels except pogo(i’m glad that they are convinced why i blocked jetix and animax 🙂 ).
@ crush — yeahh its fun listening to those stories.When ever i mention ‘that name’ ,my nephew used to blush….that scene is priceless 😛
Reinforce positive behaviour – Let’s prac .. VERY TRUE..wish all the parents think same way
nice post pal..keep it coming (i loved this post and wanted to comment properly ..thatz y i told “i will come back” before)
Great post! I find some parents think a violent and aggressive child would prove to be smart and is likely to survive the world better. They don’t realise how they are destroying any chances of the child understanding cause and effect, give and take, sharing and taking turns…
I blogged about a father who proudly declared that the son had inherited violence from him! He thought violence meant manliness and courage 😦
Such parents don’t care what their children are watching on the TV or how much time they spend on the internet 😦
Anish: You are absolutely right..these programmes are certainly brainless. Whatever happened to fairy tales (not the recently animated ones)? The other day, we watched the old ‘Sleeping Beauty’ – no action/violence.. and guess what? It was actually insipid, even for us! Isn’t it bad, that we have all got used to a way of life that incudes Violence in every aspect? So, the lack of it, makes things boring? Shucks!
As for crushes, you still haven’t shared yours 😉
IHM: Thanks! I’ve heard the same logic from some parents, and people who tell me to not worry about my child being aggressive, as it will ‘help him be a survivor’. Somehow, I hate that argument too. People chase ‘success’ too much , to realise, that ‘just being a good person’ is good enough!
@ my crush…lol , i shared it in my blog few times 🙂 .And if i continue to write about the same , then i willn’t get a girl from a good family 😀