September 12th, 2008
Are you concerned about what your kids are watching on TV? Do you worry about what the grim crime dramas such as CSI (and all of its spinoffs) and Bones are exposing your kids to? Or is it the “kids gone wild” storylines of Gossip Girl that have you concerned? Or are you concerned about your offspring thinking “reality” TV is actually real?
If you are concerned, maybe you have tried blocking their access to such shows. However, in today’s Internet-connected world, you can watch almost every TV series online whenever you want to. Many networks stream episodes shortly after they have aired. All kinds of television programs can be found on countless websites. While this is great if you have missed an episode of your favourite show, it is not so wonderful for parents. It takes the control of the “remote” out of the hands of parents.
There are some different ways parents can handle this. You could think about using parental controls software to block certain sites. This software can be great tool for parents. In this case, there are many websites hosting videos it might be hard to block all of the places your kids could watch the offending series.
Another idea is to talk to your kids. What do they like to watch? What shows are their peers interested in? You can also tell them what you like. During the conversation you could bring up the names of some shows you are concerned about and hear their views. This conversation, and followup ones, could help both of you have a better understanding where each of you is coming from.
Robin