Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolly Well
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...
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That's an interesting point to think about. I will bow and admit that perhaps I was a little hasty in saying that government censorship should be active. I probably should have advocated parental censorship instead. After all, the parent knows what is suitable for their children, correct?
Still, children do love cartoons and they will take things from them, even if they contradict what the parents are trying to teach. These things are beloved characters and, at times, they are all the child has in their life. That is not to say that cartoons are the only culprit and that they affect every child in the same way.
Speaking from the view point of parental censorship, what do you consider inappropriate for you children to watch?
As for me, although I am not a mother, the age gap between my brother and myself allows me to practice that role on a regular basis.
While my brother is in my care, I would prefer for him NOT to view blatantly racist cartoons. Living with a very close-minded step-father, he encounters enough ignorance in his life. I'm not going to let some pen and ink character give him the impression that racism is okay to the point where it is considered "funny" to mock and degrade those who are different from him. For obvious reasons, I would also censor him against pornography.
Likewise, I will not allow him to be around a blatantly racist/sexist/homophobic person. I will not let his views on life become so distorted at an age where he is just beginning to realize these issues. I do not want him to become another bane on society and its progress via imitation.
While I do agree that yes, we should make an effort to educate ourselves and our children, I have to disagree with your censoring issue. At the least, parental censorship should be active to prevent adding fuel to the fire on subjects that are less than favorable. I do not say that there should be a standard for parents. Rather, decisions should be present that they make themselves until the child is mature enough to not be so easily impressionable and they have learned to think for themselves, not to take cues from others.