Whilst waiting for my youngest to come out from wherever he was hiding at pre-K (hiding because home is “boring” and pre-K isn’t!) I overheard a conversation between three of his classmates. Now in his pre-K class the age range is 3-5 years, Connor’s currently 3.5 years, and this particular group I was eavesdropping on are about 4 years old. His classmates were discussing the Pirates of the Caribbean and from what they were saying it was obvious that they’d seen the movie, and they were comparing it to Superman and Batman movies.
I know that I’m a little overprotective, not just of my boys, but of the right of my boys to be children before they’re grown-ups, but even so, I don’t think these movies are intended for this age group. Jake, my eldest (currently 6.5 years) was about the same age as these boys when he discovered that TV didn’t come on a cassette that you put into the machine – and furthermore it wasn’t all animated movies that started with Tinker Bell floating around a graphic of Cinderella’s castle! Even at his age, he shows no interest in watching these movies, and whilst he will take part in role play where he is a superhero, and can identify a picture of Batman, he’s more likely to be directing the same kids in role play about a Care Bear mission! I’m not really so worried about him in this respect. He’s got Aspergers, but he’s very confident in his skin so he thinks it’s ok that other kids watch what they like, but he prefers to watch his Disney or Care Bear movies. The little one on the other hand does concern me.
Connor’s my wild child. Because of the age difference, he has been allowed to watch things that weren’t always a Disney animated production, and therefore he’s more “worldly” than Jake. He’s also more of a “Jack Sparrow” by nature! Although these movie types do come from the same mother-company, they are intended for very different age groups. I hate that my little one is being introduced to media that I believe to be too old for him because other parents think they know better than those who give the rating on the movie. He’s more easily influenced than his big brother and whereas Jake would say, “OK, you can be a fighting pirate if you want, but I’m going to dig for treasure in the sand box”, my little feisty pirate would be one of the first to get his cutlass out!
When he comes home however, he’s thrown back into reality for his age, and the movies – and TV – that he’s allowed to watch are very age appropriate. The funny thing is that once he gets home, he drops the tough guy act, and once more becomes the 3.5 year old who wants to swing through the jungle with Mowgli, and never asks about movies like the ones I overheard his friends talking about. I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to keep this kind of “entertainment” outside the reach of my boys, but I’m sure going to try for as long as I can!
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Ten Ways to Help Your Child with Aspergers Syndrome Succeed in school
I’m on a mission to lose weight. Keep up with my journey here Momma’s on a Diet