[Jolly Well]

Good read. I hope this thread doesn't get ugly and locked. Everyone participating, please feel free to disagree with everyone else! (but please do so in a respectful manner)

Here goes!

Where do children pick up bad behavior? Could it be from the parents and other close relatives? Less than child friendly movies? Or, could cartoons possibly be the culprit?

All of the above and countless other sources. You can live in a house with no television, books, or radio and your kids will still have moments of behavior that we see as "bad." Other kids at school are going to introduce different bahvior patterns, and they'll hear the random stranger at the grocery store say something inappropriate because they forgot something in isle 4 at the back of the store.

While I am very torn when it comes to the subject of censoring art and history, some censorship in cartoons may be for the better.

I could not disagree with this more. I'll explain myself throughout this post as I touch on different points from your intial writing.

I believe that refusing to show our children horrid racism is the right thing to do. Yes, it was part of our past, but there's no need to start the past all over again.

I have to think that there is a better way than censorship. Certainly the extreme racism from our past was horrible (any kind of racism really). Telling someone how bad it was will have little impact, so allowing the cartoons you listed to be viewed can be educational. The viewer can see how extreme it really was when every aspect of society was a culprit. Looney Toons helped train a generation to continue the racist ways of the past, but the end result would have been the same without the cartoons. It was just where our country was at the time...

When is censoring cartoons acceptable and when is it silly and trivial?
Just how impressionable are our children?
When does the responsibility of animation company stop and the responsibility of the parents begin?

I cannot think of a moment when censoring is acceptable.
I'm not saying there isn't material out there that is deeply offensive; just that censorship isn't the answer. If the offensive material never makes its way into some form of media - it will still spread.

No doubt that people of all ages are more impressionable than they should be.

Animation companies have zero responsibility in raising children. The only people I feel they should be accountable to are the stockholders of their company - by making a product that makes money.

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I saw a quote once that went something like:

Every thing I need to know, I learned from reading banned books

There should never be a banned book. First, wh decides if it qualifies to be banned and why? In our past, some literary works have been banned that are now seen as works of genius.

Educating yourself is the first step. It's hard to convince someone of anything if you cannot make an educated case for your cause. Developing a relationship of trust with your children is neccessary before you can educate them - if they value someone else's opinion more than yours - they'll listen to that person even if he is talking hate. Educate your child - watch the movie with them and discuss it. Tell them why its wrong.

There was ALOT less school shootings when Bugs Bunny was around ALot less Killing when Disney made those great cartoons. Oh yeah I forgot that was when families sat down to watch TV, Eat Dinner, and they prayed before they ate.

Many of those same families sat down and watched All in the Family together and laughed about Archie Bunker (one of the biggest racist shows ever - I admittedly watch this on T.V. Land - I love old T.V.), they also sent their white kids to white schools, used derogatory slang when talking about blacks (or women, or anyone not like themselves). They killed Martin Luther King jr., and set forth hate and anger against more people of color than we will ever know. Thinking life was perfect a few decades ago is also a fantasy.

Maybe there weren't any shootings in school back then, but it is the children of these very people who are killing their classmates. It is possible that media has an impact - I still don't support censorship from my points above.

I don't believe there is any possible way to shelter these things from anyone; and I feel an attempt to do so puts whoever is being sheltered at a disadvantage somehow. Trust and guidance are the likely keys to countering the negative things people learn in life.

Maybe one day when it isn't a big deal that a black man is trying to become President, and it is justaman, we can toss some of the garbage from our past into a waste basket somewhere - I sadly cannot see that day ever coming to pass.

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the only mass killer I had ever heard of was Charles Manson

I know it is only a technicality, but Charles Manson never killed anyone himself...