Beth Kevles wrote:

We let our kids (6 and 8) watch a limited amount of stuff that we (as
parents) rather dislike, like Pokemon. I handle it by biting the bullet
and sitting down to watch the junk WITH the kids, and we discuss it a
bit as we go (during pauses of the video, or commercial breaks if on
TV). We talk about the violence, the redeeming features, why the
redeeming features aren't really enough, why we're concerned about the
violence, and a lot about the commercialism.

No, I don't watch EVERY junk show with the kids. But enough to keep the
discussion going about what's good, what's not, and why.

That's how I'm dealing with this issue. I hope it works in the long
run!

For me, it depends on how strongly I feel about the particular issue (violence,
for example) or the particular show. I won't watch violent shows myself, and I
don't want The Kid watching them. (Her father, on the other hand, likes to take
himself to movies where a lot of things unrealistically blow up. He enjoys that
sort of stuff.) I don't need to be watching the show with The Kid, when it's
something like "Pokemon," to explain to her what it is I don't like about it.

There are other things we've watched together that we do talk our way through.
If an otherwise *reasonably okay* movie (such as "Confessions of a Teen-Age
Drama Queen") has a drunk character in it, we'll talk about drinking and drunks
and why it's a Bad Idea to drink too much. So in some cases, that approach does
work us, but it wouldn't work for me with "Pokemon."

Thanks for responding!

beeswing