I'm wondering this for in the future; but when you are raising an ethically vegan child, what do you do about television? Like I see so much pro-meat, pro-fur, pro-circus, etc. propaganda on kids shows and I'm wondering what that'd do to a vegan child (at young age). From Sesame street promoting fur, to cartoons protraying farmed animals as very happy and loving their "fun farm life", I've seen so much stuff that must confusing a vegan child, and I don't know if it's even possible to filter it. Is the best thing not to have tv shows at all but to only have cartoons on DVDs that you can watch first? Or do you just have to be there to explain when your child asks questions?

I will need this for later. Help!

Haha, I remember growing up as a vegetarian child, the cartoon on Nickelodeon 'Doug' made me really want to try liver & onions. My mother told me not to be so stupid.

My son started watching tv at 2. He's 3 and has been so inundated with the propaganda you mention. Sometimes he asks questions. Sometimes I just make comments (like... while watching a cartoon charactor eating a burger I may casually say "... he's a meat eater, huh?". He understands a great deal for his age and I can see his little mental wheels constantly turning/churning the information coming in. He processes what he can and makes his own little mental notes on what he can't. And believe you me, he will bring it up at a random later date for discussion! :) I think the key is to be clear that every person in the world is totally different. Some of us don't eat meat, some of us do.

We don't have a tv, which helps avoid but doesn't completely solve the problem of negative influence (and opens up other problems sometimes).

Diana-Kate

Young children should be very limited in the amount of tv they watch. Until they learn critical thinking skills, they are basically prey for companies like McDonald's who have invested a great deal of money into learning how to effectively brainwash kids into wanting their product.

I think the key is to watch tv with your child, and discuss, discuss, discuss. Make them actually *think* about what they are watching and explain that you can't believe everything you see on tv (house hippos, anyone? :D).

These sorts of messages come from everywhere, not just tv, so they will need to be discussed eventually.

My two watch very little TV. They have never seen Sesame Street or any of the others. My 7 year old reads at a 6th grade level, so maybe kids don't Elmo to teach them letters!! Seriously, very young children should not watch TV alone. An adult should always be present.

My reasoning is: vegan childen are just plain better than everyone else, and therefore they can do whatever they want.

Interesting...in what way was Sesame Street promoting fur? I haven't seen it in years, but I do remember having a conversation with animal shelter employees over an episode idealizing letting cats have kittens.

That said, I do know how much kiddie media idealize the circus, farming, and fast food.

Young children should be very limited in the amount of tv they watch. Until they learn critical thinking skills, they are basically prey for companies like McDonald's who have invested a great deal of money into learning how to effectively brainwash kids into wanting their product.

I think the key is to watch tv with your child, and discuss, discuss, discuss. Make them actually *think* about what they are watching and explain that you can't believe everything you see on tv (house hippos, anyone? :D).

These sorts of messages come from everywhere, not just tv, so they will need to be discussed eventually.

I agree with everything you've said! That approach is very developmentally-appropriate, reasonable and the best way for a parent to approach thier child's exposure to media, according to the experts in the fields of psychology and child development!

I have a 13 year old daughter who is very discerning and yet still succumbs to influence from the drivel that is pumped out to the masses from time to time. (She occasionally worries about appearance and thinks new commercial products that are advertised *may* be worth trying etc. when we have perfectly good natural/organic products to do those jobs already etc.).

Unless we raise them in caves (not advisiable :D ) we can't avoid exposing them to *some* level of unfavorable content via mass media. What we as parents *do* with that information when it's presented makes all the difference. Screening wwhat they are exposed to and then talking with your children about what they observe/think/feel is the best way to raise free-thinking, open, conscious individuals!

Wait a second,, we aren't supposed to raise our kids in caves??? :think:


:D

Wait a second,, we aren't supposed to raise our kids in caves??? :think:


:D
Oh, that's RIGHT! As vegans, we have to eschew the dominant paradigm, live in caves or yurts and live as saintly freaks, right? :tame:

(*sarcasm* :D )

My daughter knows more about the realities of life than any kid I've ever met of her age. Maybe that's more to do with the type of parent I am than the lack of TV; perhaps a combination of both. She was never fed any stories about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.....in 20 years she'll probably be on the psychiatrist's couch, complaining about me.

I never told lies to my daughter about those things either, healthnut32;Incidentally, we just got a TV service this year :D

^^^^^^^^^^

I'm so glad I'm not the only one!!! I figured out there was no Santa Claus when I was 3 years old; of course the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were quick to follow. I can't stand television. My husband finally got it hooked up without my permission. I prefer the radio, although my daughter is hooked on the Weather Channel's "Storm Stories," so I do let her watch it as part of school. She explained to me last night how supercells are formed!

ah, the old myths, legends, and lies problem. ah well, there was already a debate about that.

i want to live in a yurt, actually. might seem strange, but it is right up my alley.

ryan and i also discuss spending one to two years of our children's early lives in a foriegn country like thailand or india. mostly because i want to study more traditional thai medicine and more ayurvedic medicine and would need to live in these places for at least a year to apprentice (i can get most of the educational stuff here). It looks like i'll be doing that when my kids are young.

then we can live in all sorts of traditional dwellings and situations, in cultures that have large vegetarian populations, and where american things aren't 'normal.'

Interesting...in what way was Sesame Street promoting fur?
I only saw a little bit of it and turned the channel. It was like promoting it as as some sort of really neat culture, with kids running around in the snow covered in fur jackets, hats, and boots. I can't really remember the details, sorry. Maybe I'll see it again sometime.

Unless we raise them in caves (not advisiable :D ) we can't avoid exposing them to *some* level of unfavorable content via mass media. What we as parents *do* with that information when it's presented makes all the difference. Screening wwhat they are exposed to and then talking with your children about what they observe/think/feel is the best way to raise free-thinking, open, conscious individuals!

I agree with all of this. I think if you have an open dialogue with your child about ideas, you don't have to worry about them becoming drones who are slaves to the dominant culture.

Very informative and helpful responses everyone! Thank you!

so how old are the kids we're talking about? i think it makes a big difference! anyway, i have a 3 yo who watches select and previewed videos and some pbs...
i saw the sesame street that was referred to--it was eskimo kids getting dressed to go out to school in the cold, no dialog, but song...i noticed the fur, too, but i wouldn't call it promoting...i would put it more in education/tolerance...not everyone makes the same choices we do, not everyone is BAD because they are not like us (esp kids)...

No tv in this house. I hate commercials. We watch movies and that's it.
It's okay if she sees a little pro-meat, pro-fur etc entertainment, because everyone is different which is okay, but I wouldn't want her to be watching it to the point were she thinks she's not normal.

I don't know how we'd fit in TV anyway-we can hardley fit in a whole movie most of the time. We're way too busy doing other things.

so how old are the kids we're talking about? i think it makes a big difference! anyway, i have a 3 yo who watches select and previewed videos and some pbs...
i saw the sesame street that was referred to--it was eskimo kids getting dressed to go out to school in the cold, no dialog, but song...i noticed the fur, too, but i wouldn't call it promoting...i would put it more in education/tolerance...not everyone makes the same choices we do, not everyone is BAD because they are not like us (esp kids)...

agree agree!! also, not everyone lives in a climate like us, has access to the types of clothes we do and on and on.

also, i am a believer in critical thinking which of course comes later than toddlerhood. a quick story: a vegan friend of mine had these animal cards for her son. one was of a cow and it had facts on the back. she used a black sharpie to delete two facts she didn't like. "cows are important farm animals" and "cows give us milk to drink" i was so surprised bc her son was like 12 months at the time and didn't know WTF the card said anyhow. and later, does she not want him to know that those two statements are true for many in the world? seems like it could be "fodder" for some good discussion rather than just blacking it out.

i saw the sesame street that was referred to--it was eskimo kids getting dressed to go out to school in the cold, no dialog, but song...i noticed the fur, too, but i wouldn't call it promoting...i would put it more in education/tolerance...not everyone makes the same choices we do, not everyone is BAD because they are not like us (esp kids)...
That doesn't sound like what I saw. I think I saw something different.

I think some TV is fun and appropriate. . . also because it gives children a potential for comonality of reference. I know I've had many conversations with friends about old TV shows we watched (Thundercats, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saved by the Bell, etc.).

Also, there are now cartoons w/veg*n characters! BeastBoy on Teen Titans is vegan or vegetarian (I can't remember), and there's also Ang from Avatar. I think BeastBoy is awesome because he won't eat animals because he can transform into animals, and therefore empathize with them.

it gives children a potential for comonality of reference. I know I've had many conversations with friends about old TV shows we watched (Thundercats, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saved by the Bell, etc.).



I've never understood that-I want my children to have more to discuss with others than that episode of Pokemon they saw 20 years ago. I used to watch a lot of TV, but have almost never found it to be a point of reference with friends I have now.

I think some TV is fun and appropriate. . . also because it gives children a potential for comonality of reference. I know I've had many conversations with friends about old TV shows we watched (Thundercats, Jem and the Holograms, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saved by the Bell, etc.).

Yeah, I know what you mean. Although I grew up in an environment surrounded by books and was pushed to do well in school, I also watched a lot of TV. I loved TV, honestly. Like you, I have a lot of memories of the shows I loved and have often used everything from My Little Pony to the Golden Girls as conversation topics with my peers.
Recently, to my delight, I came across a Disney Rarities DVD with all the old cartoon shorts that were rerun on the Disney Channel in the mid-80s. Lambert the Sheepish Lion, Ferdinand the Bull, Paul Bunyan, and the rest brought back tons of memories.