Is This TV Show Ok for a 2 Y/o???

When my oldest was 2 1/2 her grandma took her to see the Lion King. I think this was more traumatic. Those animals were talking. We have always watched nature shows and talked about where our food came from. I think it keeps them in touch with how life works.
T.

At the age of 2 your dd probably doesn't feel an empathy for the gazelle when the lion eats it like you do. Generally that doesn't develop until later. You'll know when it's too much for her, because she'll "ewww" just like you do. Like some of the other moms have said, animals eat animals, we do too. Children will learn this eventually, anything that normalizes it for them can't be all bad.

She laughed about it and growled, she didn't have nightmares, and it is the natural way of the world. Frankly my child loved "Discovery", "Animal Planet", etc. when we still had those channels from the time they were babies. I don't see anything wrong with it. Frankly I can't bear to watch it either, but that doesn't mean I am unwilling to accept the fact it is the way wild animals live.
I am not suggesting you take her to a slaughter house. That I think would be inappropriate.

No, it isn't. 2 yrs old is not old enough to understand the ways of nature if they aren't raised around it from birth. I agree that it is natural and yes when they are older they can have it explained to them. Not at 2 yrs old.

If you teach your kids that it's scarey it will be. My grandaughter grew up watching that stuff and everyone hunts around here. She's gonna be 6. She loves it and can't wait to go hunting with her daddy. If there's a dead animal on the road she has to go check it out. Don't make them scared of it.

M.,

I agree with your husband. A lion eating other animals is natural, and your daughter deserves the truth--there ARE carnivores out there. Unless she indicates that she doesn't want to see it, there should be no problem.

Best wises,
K.

Hi, M. -

I love nature, and I realize that there is a great pecking order and that nature must take its course. That said - *I* do not enjoy or find it necessary to watch nature taking its course. I know that lions have to eat and that's a fact of life, but I do not need to see it. I don't think it's *wrong*, per se, for your daughter to be exposed to it, but, with so many other less-disturbing and beautiful things to see, I think it's not the best choice for a little kid.

There will come a point when you can discuss what's going on and why, but I don't see a single reason to introduce that imagery at such a young age. If you owned a zoo or had to work with wild animals or something - where dealing with life and death and survival of the fittest was an integral part of your daily life, then I'd say go for it.

But, I don't see any reason to bring more dramatic, shocking, and troubling life and death elements into a child's life before they have a way of understanding them enough to process them.

Good luck!
H.

M.,

For 2 years old, she might not really be processing what is happening on the screen yet. But I'm with you, I think I'd jump for the remote during the "Momma lion tramples on the baby gazelle" moment as well. It's not being over protective, it's just YOUR momma instinct. And being hyper-sensitive is your own perogative, so hush your husband up! =)

Kids are going to find something to be afraid of. Monsters, ghosts, big dogs, strangers and hungry lions ... it's inevitable something will haunt their nighttime thoughts. Why not try and stave that off as much as you can? Why serve it to them? I'd just fast forward during that scary devouring the lamb moment. That way,they would know what's happening, but they wouldn't need to hear it or see it in real time.

J.

some rules of thumb- tv isn;t good for any kid no matter what the subject matter....i personally think this is better hten anything on nickelodeon or disney channel but limit all tv time to less then 1/2 hour a day.

Well in my house it was my son who was like this and i felt the same way and had the same conversation, i lost, it didn't bother him, and i couldn't very well control everything his father did, i still can't. lol. Turns out though that at age 9 he'd still rather watch animal planet than cartoons. and if you think of some of the cartoons out there that other kids his age are watching (cartoon netwrok is TERRIBLE)well i actually think he's made the right choice and his father may have been right all along, just don't tell him that.

Children learn from the programs.
This is a good time for you to set down and explain the things that go one in the animal kingdom, so I agree with the father on this one.

I can completely relate to this question. I think you should use your mommy instincts and let your concerns B. heard that you think your child isn't ready for this yet. You don't think it's age appropriate. My oldest is 10 yrs., and there are things that he will turn off himself, without me telling him. I think because of the way I would change channels if it was innappropriate.

Recently had a tiff about a Star Wars gamecube game rated Teen that was given to us. Some of them were OK, but this one had one on one guns and I stood my ground and the game dissappeared. It did bring up a lot of tension though, because hubby thought it was OK. I guess because he is watching, or playing, and doesn't want to give it up.

So, maybe if hubby is saying it's all right, and you feel strongly and don't want to argue, maybe take stand by removing your child from the room until it sinks in with hubby that you really mean it.

It appears your daughter enjoyed the lion show. If it was graphic and showed the pain and blood and ewwwww I probably would have changed it for me personally. But it appears that your daughter wasn't paying enough attention to grasp what was going on. I think the Nature shows are much better than Cartoons these days. We like PBS and my kids enjoy all the animals shows. I don't think either of you are right or wrong, just different.

Some of the shows can be very gory but as long as it isn't disturbing your daughter I think it's okay

I have a 2 y/o. And my vote is "it depends"....it depends on how much she's really paying attention to it while it's on. Most things on the planet channel or discovery channel are okay - we actually watch them pretty often. There's a lot of times they may not even realize that the lion's eating another animal - they just see that he's eating. Never mind that 2 minutes ago, they showed the lion "taking down" the other animal.

Many times when we have a show like that on, our 2 y/o really isn't paying much attention to it. Our 5 year old might be - but the 2 y/o is too busy motoring around and playing.

But there are shows that I definitely tell my dh that the kids "don't need to see". He was watching some rated r show and I was like, "Excuse me, but do the kids really need to see that..." and he wasn't thinking about the kids being close enough to earshot or something. My oldest has started telling him, "no more football" or "no more racing" when she wants to watch one of her shows or for him to play with them.

Like I said, I think a lot of it depends on how much the children are really watching the show.

Good luck!

This is a tough one. I know that we were watching a similar show and my daughter didn't really make a comment about it one way or another, however, when she watches the Lion King, I know she gets very upset with Scar and what he did (it amazes me that she kind of understands this). I would agree with what someone else said, watch her reaction or even talk about it with her. But, if you're uncomfortable with it, talk with your husband and let him know how you feel, maybe he won't necessary agree with your reasoning, but he will respect your decision if you discuss it.

If your kids aren't upset about seeing it, than I would suggest using it as a time to teach about the ways of life for animals. My son saw the same things about age 2, he's 3 now, he asked why it was eating the animal. We just told him that's what animals did and it was hungry he actually seemed to understand. But to reasure you, I thought it was a bit much at first also. My husband was the one that explained to him animals can't go to the grocery store

I'm kind of with you, M.. My husband is an avid hunter and loves to watch hunting shows on TV. I struggle with my 2 and 4 year old girls watching the "killing" part of it, but they don't seem to be bothered by it ... and since it is such a passion of my husband's, I try not to over-react too much. I do, however, insist that he refer to deer meat as venison when it's served - by him! - for dinner, as I'm definitely not ready for them to make that association.