What media would you give to your children?

[Setra]

What kind of things would you show your kids?

I'd go with Sesame Street, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragonlance.

In order of age given, 5, 6, and 7.

[GolemsVoice]

High Priest Brut Al Slaughter's Guide to Demon Worship. Seriously, there is nothing better in this world to keep children quet, friendly and terrified all the time. *Ahem*

No, well, Die Sendung mit der Maus, a german TV programm which even may have earned some fame outside Germany. It's very educational, funny and just awesome, and I enjoyed it every sunday when I was a child, and, sometimes, I still do.
Maybe some good poetry which they are able to understand, and of course, fantasy for their age. I have something to pass down through the generations.

[JoeHills]

I'd probably watch Jurassic Park with them to explain the evils of science, Catch Me If You Can to introduce them to social engineering, and V for Vendetta to show what happens when participative democracy collapses.
Just kidding on Jurassic Park, actually. I'd really use it to demonstrate how being eleven and knowing Unix can save your from dinosaurs.

[bosssmiley]

"Sesame Street" + "My Neighbour Totoro", the "Indiana Jones" movies + "Time Bandits", anything-and-everything with the Muppets, "Labyrinth" + "Dark Crystal", Errol Flynn and John Wayne movies, "Zulu" and "ET", "Star Wars" (the classic trilogy only), "King Kong", Sinbad movies and the "LOTR" films - all as soon as they're ready for them.

I want them to know that different != bad.
I want them to grow up with an active sense of wonder and joy.
I want them to be aware that bad things exist, but that they can be beaten by people with courage and good character.

[Jack Squat]

I'll let them watch anything that's not 'R' rated. Well until they mature some, then I'll show them Braveheart, Terminator, Die Hard, and the like.

[LCR]

I wouldn't allow any television at all, except for maybe the "Sendung mit der Maus" until they are, like, six years old. After that, very restricted television time, maybe on the weekends.
I wouldn't give them their own tellies or computers until they are at least 13.

[Jibar]

Tv shows would be divided into these age categories. These are the programs they are allowed to watch without supervision. Anything else I would watch with them.
1-8: Sesame Street
8-15: The Muppet Show
15+: Buffy
I would also see to tracking down some special treats for them, like the Clangers.

Films would depend on age. I would start them off with Disney movies, in chronological order, so it would begin with Snow White and continue like that. That way, films that aren't so cutesy, like Tarzan and Atlantis, won't be approached until around 10ish when they can better grasp them. The Little Mermaid will be eternal though.
Other films would include Star Wars (in order of 1-6, because I'd like to see what that would be like), Lord of the Rings, the Matrix trilogy, the Alien series, Moulin Rouge, the Nightmare Before Christmas, the Spider-man trilogy and similar films.

Video Games would again work on age. At younger years it would be platformers and simple puzzle games, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank and Mario headlining. Around 10ish, RPGs, RTSs and lighter FPS/Fighting games would be introduced. By 14, all games would be available save those with explicit material. I would decide which of those they could play.

...have I covered everything?

[Amotis]

The Little Prince, Classical and post-rock, sing them/her/him some folk/neofolk, Monty Python, Mel Brooks, and Woody Allen, and Sesame Street.

[Teal Kuinshi]

Books. Lots of books. Maybe I'd show them a T.V. when they were, say, sixteen or so. I wouldn't let them watch it, of course. But they could look at it.

[Dr._Weird]

Hmm. Well, seeing as I despise children, we'll just assume this is if for some reason I don't get a vasectomy.

Everything that would scare the **** out of them.

[B-Man]

I would stick with the classic Disney movies (such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Snow White), but not often. TV does rot the mind. I'd plunge them into many books. I'd unplug the TV for days on end. You know what? Forget TV! I'll give 'em Lego and have their imagination run wild!

[Setra]

I find TV doesn't so much rot the mind.. as distract you and make you lazy.. unless that's what you mean.

Then again my idea of a good TV show is Modern Marvels, and the History/Discovery channels in general.

It's easier to get a kid to pay attention to history if it's on TV. At least that's how I was, and a few other people I know/knew.

[B-Man]

The tube does kill imagination (to an extent). Kids just imagine what the screen shows them. I don't see them playing with stuffed animals or dolls now-a-days. It's mostly just video games, cellphones, iPods, etc, etc.

I remember being genuinely interested in history without having to watch a documentary about it. I loved to read when I was younger (still do, but I'm finding myself too distracted to read more than 3 pages at a time of any literature ('cept manga, that's a different thing all together)).

[Lemur]

Books and comics. Calvin and Hobbes from the moment they understand language, among others. I'd let them watch cartoons and some other shows, but only prerecorded in order to avoid commercials. In general, I'd try to let them make their own choices on genre in these aspects.

As a kid, I loved reading, I loved comics, and I loved cartoon shows (I still love all three nowdays) and I don't think that watching TV killed my imagination or stopped me from doing other things like reading or playing with toys. I would limit the amount of time spent watching TV/playing computer games in a day, though. I think that commercials can screw you up though. When watching movies on DVD, I find that I like pausing frequently and doing something else for a while before coming back, as if emulating a commercial break.

As for toys, I'm not entirely sure on all the details, but I do know one thing as being certain: Legos. Definitely legos, and lots of them. Other toys based on constructing things as well. Probably board games (Settlers of Catan, Monopoly, Risk, etc.) and nerf stuff as well.

Computer games... I'm really not up to date with what's going on with computer games in the past few years. I'd probably wait a while before introducing computer games, but I think it would be almost inevitable. It's likely that I'd give them some of my favorite games as a kid, especially Designasaurus 2, because that was the best game ever for a kid.

Probably try to casually expose them to a wide variety of music, but they'd probably go for the humorous stuff, if they're anything like me when I was really young.

I'd try to get them into tabletop gaming as soon as possible too.

[Shadow of the Sun]

I'd hand them a musical instrument and give them some of my old music too listen too for that instrument. Then we'll see how far they get doing that.

[Setra]

The tube does kill imagination (to an extent). Kids just imagine what the screen shows them. I don't see them playing with stuffed animals or dolls now-a-days. It's mostly just video games, cellphones, iPods, etc, etc.
Eh, well the things you want them to imagine usually aren't on TV anyways.

Also, am I the only one who pictured Gandalf differently?

I don't know entirely what I mean.. I'm tired.

[blackout]

Everything. :smallbiggrin:

Nah, seriously, I'd show them things according to age.

Around 1-4 standard young child stuff. Age 5-7 small-time video games and movies, like mario and so on. 8-10, some of the more older-child themed movies. 11-13 Games with a little more violence, such as Starcraft or Warcraft III. After that? Sky's the limit.

[Reptilus]

Whatever they wanna watch. A child seeing genitals? S/He'd best never see such a thing; I intend on having his or her own burnt off with a white-hot iron at birth so the uncleanliness of those parts are gone. Sex? Ye gods, s/he might see tat unclean thing which brought an abomination like him onto this world. He cannot know the dark, evil rites of his creation upon our plane, the malignancy of those rituatls is simply too much to bare! And blood? I am filled to mine brim with fear that my child might see the vital fluid already coursing through his/her veins, lest s/he gain the understanding it is not good when such a fluid on the outside.
Seriously. I don't own my child. He or she can watch what she wants and do whatever he or she wants that does not direclt injur her until he or she is older. Then s/he can directly injur his/herself if s/he likes.

[RoboticSheeple]

I'm 21. By the time I have kids that are old enough for such a question we'll be looking back on what we watch now as politically incorrect for whatever social movement advances the most in the next few years (womens' rights, gay rights, or racial equality most likely but maybe even classism). As such there will be new media for parents from my generation to learn about and understand for their children.

Short answer, I don't know, ask me once I have a kid.

[smellie_hippie]

It's damn near impossible to plan what media you will allow your children to watch or be involved with. What passes for OK at your house, might get snuffed when they go for a sleep-over.

In raising my children, I avoided the R movies... and PG-13 meant they had to wait until theyr were 13. (Yep... My son had to wait 5 months to watch the first Spiderman).

In response to a lot of belly-aching we have gotten a little less strict. All movies are previewed by my wife and I... and rated R has to be closely screened for language/violence/nudity. Bear in mind that movies that you would love to expose to your kids, to help them understand more of your sense of humor (Like Ferris Buellers Day Off) have a ****load of cuss words.... even though there is no violence or nudity.

Books and comic books. Legos and art supplies. Musical instruments. I also have both of my children playing tabletop RPGs and some strategy card games.

[MrEdwardNigma]

I'd make my kids watch the muppets, old school disney cartoons, nightmare before christmas, some of the old dungeons and dragons cartoons...TMNT, but only because I enjoyed that a lot when I was a kid. I'd make them watch stuff that tingles the imagination, and a lot of "smarter" childrens show with layers. the ones you can still enjoy when you're an adult.
Not too much TV, though... It's bad for them. I know some little kids that don't do anything but stare at the Tv. Except when I come around. Kids love me.

[Reptilus]

I still think it's utterly ridiculous to be afraid of your children seeing nudity; do you make them wear a blindfold when they bathe or urinate.
Okay, the latter would be pretty hilarious.
I support that.