Freaks and Geeks

[Mary Ann]

Susan wrote:

> Am I out of step? Wrong? Does anyone else think this kind of stuff is 
> unsuitable for children?

Mary Ann:

How old is your child?  My girl and older boy are almost 11 and 10, and 
they would not be adversely affected by such language; they hear it in 
other places and I trust them to use their judgement.  Truth be told, 
they wouldn't be interested in such a show anyway; they're not 
interested in teenage dramas.  My 7-year-old has Autistic Spectrum 
Disorder and wouldn't be able to understand it anyway, and his severe 
speech impediment means that, even if he did pick up a few of those 
words, no one could understand them (I believe in looking at the bright 
side of life :D ).

I haven't heard of this show, much less watched it (I'm in the UK) but 
I doubt that the video store would show any show or movie above PG-13.  
We need to get Sheryll's attention ***whips out a photo of Alan Rickman 
and a bottle of Dr. Pepper*** and ask what the Canadian Blockbuster 
policy is.  IMO, provided the rating is not above PG-13 I see no reason 
to turn the TV off.  Despite having 3 kids and working with children I 
do not believe that the shops are obligated to cater entirely at a 
child's level.  The majority of the video shop customers are, I assume, 
adults, and therefore the shop's advertising would be geared towards 
them.  If something in a shop offends me I vote with my feet and my 
wallet, and go elsewhere.

Susan:
 
> Unfortunately, my children have heard profanity at school quite a 
> bit

Mary Ann:

Hee, "quite a bit"? :D  I'm a Rainbow Guider (5 to 7-year-olds) for two 
units and work in a primary school, mostly with Key Stage One kids 
(ages 4 to 7).  I'm 39, and in the playground words that I've never 
heard before waft into my ears, and while the Offenders get a right 
good rollicking none of the adults are usually shocked by the language 
(the only word that left me speechless was the N-word, because it's so 
rare to hear that word nowadays; young kids here often don't know that 
word and we did NOT want it to spread).  Here it's common for younger 
kids to watch Coronation Street and Eastenders with their parents and 
the language in these shows can be, by some people's standards, 
profane.  Mind you, the British are more relaxed about language use; 
what is considered acceptable by many British parents may be considered 
profane by parents in other countries, especially the US and Canada.

Susan:

> But we eschew the words "stupid", "dumb" and "retarded" in our house

Mary Ann:

Oh, same here, if the words are used as an insult.  But it's not 
uncommon to hear me say that "I'm having a stupid moment" if I do 
something daft and am having a laugh at myself, which the kids do as 
well.  It's not the word; it's the context.

Susan:
 
> and we do NOT watch commercial television.

Mary Ann:

***schnoogles the BBC***

Mary Ann, off to see what's on BBC4, one of the very few channels which 
doesn't induce nausea