just venting... tv free 6yo is now asking to watch the Matrix!!

[emmaegbert]

Okay so DS has been pretty much screen free all his life- we don't have TV, he doesn't play video or computer games, and we don't watch DVDs. But since he turned 6, we've been having him watch approximately one movie a month (he's seen Chicken Run at the theater, Babe, Star Wars, and the Wizard of Oz... so far in his whole life...)  So I am just venting but its so annoying-- lately he is pestering me to death to watch, of all things, the Matrix. WTF? DH and I are both saying, "no, its not a kids movie" and I'm thinking, OF ALL THINGS?? He's claiming a kid in his kindergarten class has seen it. Sheesh. I am not about to let him watch that and don't even want to negotiate on it. Do you just say "no" when your kids are asking for something obviously totally inappropriate? 

[HollyBearsMom]

I hear you.  My son (9) wants to watch Saw II.  He swears another kid in his class has seen it.  I asked the mom and she also has 17 year old. So yeah my sons friend "saw" it- the cover of the DVD. While I am sure there are 6 years old who have watched the Matrix chances are its all talk.

I have no problem saying no when I think something is too mature/inappropriate but we do talk about why. He is pretty good about self regulating too. He has always wanted to watch Jaws. He has number of friends who have seen it so a few weekends ago we agreed to watch it as a family.  He didn't make it past the bloody leg scene when he said "I didn't know there were so many bloody body parts, Mom.  Can your turn it off?"

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

He has always wanted to watch Jaws. He has number of friends who have seen it so a few weekends ago we agreed to watch it as a family.  He didn't make it past the bloody leg scene when he said "I didn't know there were so many bloody body parts, Mom.  Can your turn it off?"

This strikes me as slightly amusing. This same kid that wanted to see one of the Saw movies (of all things) thinks that Jaws is too bloody. But Jaws like a disney movie compared to the Saw movies!

Good for him for speaking up and not watching something that makes him uncomfortable. That's awesome.

[mommy212]

I'm just adding this to the mix, but yes, a lot of those kids probbaly have seen those movies. My in-laws (sister, mother, father and darling 6 year old niece) are very tv obsessed and will watch anything in front of her, claiming she does not tune in to it anyways. They have watched movies with violence, cursing, sex and even rape scenes while she is in the room. They would have no qualms about a movie like the matrix, jaws or probably even saw. If you attend a pretty  mainstream kind of school, this is perhaps the other kids' home situations, so he kids might be telling the truth.

[NettleTea]

I'm not surprised. A few years back my MIL was fine with having The Sopranos on as my 1 yr old son stood there gazing at the television. She didn't even care when a murder scene was beginning to unfold in front of his eyes. That was the last straw for me so I turned it off "for her". Nowadays I just carry my kids out of the room when necessary. But she's been keeping the set turned off more often when the kids are around.

I don't understand what people are thinking to allow these things in front of young ones. I guess they are so desensitized that naturally the kids must be too, right?