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<title> Violent Traps For Parents to Look Out For. </title>
How is it possible for parents today to make sure that their children will not watch movies or shows that contain too much violence? This is a big question and I will only discuss what I myself have experienced during my time in California as an au pair, as well as some of my own thoughts about different types of violence.

My hostparents wanted to make sure that their four children (ages four to nine) did not see too much violence on TV. The problem with bad language was easily solved since no shows or movies shown before 10 pm contained much of it, and the children were sent to bed long before that, on weekdays anyway. I had the pleasure of watching 'True Lies' with Arnold Schwarzenegger one evening. They had cut out the most violent scenes, but the really big change was the language. When Arnold was about to lecture some poor person, all I heard was an angry - but still polite and calm - phrase come over his lips... The bad language was gone.

Another incident I was quite surprised by was a simple commercial. It was about female underwear from 'Victoria's Secrets'. Curvy, busty women walked around in underwear alone. I do not see anything wrong with that, but my eyes almost popped out when I saw the way they pouted their lips, touched themselves etc. I think that would be in the category of soft porn! This is what they classify as and "ordinary" commercial shown at all times during day and night, which gives children easy access to it. This is double standard in morality to me.

In the article, which this discussion is based on, they say that the V-ship will not be able to tell the difference between 'Terminator 2' and 'Chindler's List'. As long as the child is old enough to understand that 'Terminator 2' is fiction or if a parent tells the child, it would be fairly acceptable to watch. On the other hand, I find 'Chindler's List' much more terrifying on the basis that it actually happened - it is NOT fiction. By that statement I realise that to be consistent you have to rule out news shows, too. There is no fiction in news, and that is to me more frightening than fiction. They often warn you if they are about to show a scary or unpleasant newsclip, however, sometimes they do not. It is not easy to know when something is about to be shown that might be scary to a child.

Fiction makes me question: when do you know a child is old enough to know somewhat what is fiction or not? Of course this varies from child to child, but I think that as a parent you can teach them by telling them if the show they just watched is fiction or not. But you can also argue that even if a child knows it is fiction, it is not healthy to watch too much of it, if it contains violence or bad language, after all. You become numb after seeing too much of it. Perhaps you still care but you do not react as strongly as if you had never seen it before. As a parent you have to find a balance and not cross the line to show your child anything with violence before they are ready, and it is up to the parent to decide when that time has come.

But I wonder how cartoons can affect a child. Does it really matter that the one using violence is just a cartoon? 'Lion King' contains a great deal of violence. 'Aladdin' is very much about evil; 'The Little Mermaid' has the evil witch; 'Donald Duck' gets a sledgehammer in his head and walks away with a little bump - only. Most of these characters and movies are about the good winning over the evil, but in the battle on the way there, there are many violent scenes. This ought to affect the child, too. Therefor it is not just TV and movies parents need to watch out for, but also for the cartoons.

It is a hard job for parents to decide what is allowed and what is not for their children to watch. It is not necessarily fiction that has to be the most frightening, and you cannot always trust the world of Disney. Parents cannot possibly keep their children away from all violence shown on TV and in movies today, but they can limit and choose what is acceptable or not. Talking to the child might help, but it is up to the parents to decide what strategy works best for them - and that is not an easy decision.
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