My children's tv rant

I am so fed up with children's television shows! We don't have cable at all (hello, rabbit ears!) so most of what our kids watch is on PBS. I really like most of the shows on PBS. I am especially digging Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood... I even finding myself using the little songs as reminders for my kids during the day...  But we also have Netflix and since Max is getting older and not wanting to watch "baby shows" anymore I have let him try out several shows thinking they should be innocent enough. But, I have found myself so frustrated.

What is with the name calling??? We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to name calling in our home, but it is kind of hard for kids to understand why this is absolutely unacceptable when it is so prevalent in the shows they are watching! On shows they act like it is funny. Or that it is okay to call names if you are talking to the "bad guys".

We all know that as adults what we are taking into our minds has an affect on us. We are easily desensitized to violence, immorality, and bad language. How much more susceptible are our kids?

I let the kids watch "Ninjago" this week thinking it looked cute. Legos, ninjas, sounds like a winner... only to find out that what my kids really took away from it is that calling people "dummies" is really funny. Nice.

I am not saying we have to protect our kids from hearing every bad word and that we can't tell them that we shouldn't act that way even if it is happening on TV. But, I do think when we are the ones putting it on for them and buying the toys we are pretty much sending the message that we are okay with whatever is presented on it.

I do not understand why the makers of shows for kiddos in the 6+ age group can't promote good behavior like the preschool shows. I am all for a good vs. evil battle. But, when the good guys act like bullies too that isn't really sending a clear message to young kids.

So, I guess this mom will be making some changes as to what shows we watch around here. I don't want to be uptight. But, how we treat others matters big time and I want my kids to know that we take this seriously. Does anyone have any recommendations for quality kids shows that are fun for bigger kids that don't glamorize bad behavior?