The Walking Dead

I was pretty sheltered from bad TV shows and movies when I was growing up. Many of the TV shows that my parents let us watch are the very same shows that my children are watching now. My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Sesame Street...it's fun to be able to have an excuse to watch the cartoons again. My parents were very deliberate in what we were and weren't allowed to watch. My first adult film was when I was well into my teenage years, and was Pretty Woman, which by today's standards is very tame. I too am very careful with what I let my children watch. Amelia didn't watch TV the first few years of her life. We just didn't allow it. So much of the research today says that TV and electronics too early in life can be dangerous for children, potentially causing language difficulties, learning disabilities, and maybe even Autism, depending on what research you believe. So, I limited Amelia's viewing of TV. Emerson? Hmm...it was a difficult task with two babies. Brian passed away when Emerson was six months old so I wasn't as careful about not putting Emerson in front of a television, or handing her an iPad. But I still was very careful about what they were allowed to watch. Amelia never really wanted to watch anything but The Little Einsteins. Emerson's favorites are the Fresh Beat Band, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Max and Ruby. We really don't veer too far off of this list, but I am very careful. Caillou barely makes the cut because he is mouthy to his parents, is a whiner, and I'm often finding myself calling him a brat. LOL! I don't allow Spongebob...or Rugrats...or Phineas and Ferb. And please don't think that I'm criticizing you if you allow your childred to watch these shows. I just don't! There are certain aspects of these shows that I don't agree with. So, my girls don't get to watch them. So, imagine my shock and horror when today, during one of my group sessions with some second graders, one of them started talking about the most recent episode of The Walking Dead. I paused, looked at them and said, "What's The Walking Dead?" Now, I have never watched this show. I don't watch much TV myself. (Remember...sheltered?) The only show that I follow religiously is Grey's Anatomy. But, I have heard bits and pieces from people. I knew it was about zombies. And thanks to Pinterest, I saw something that did a comparison of The Walking Dead to Toy Story, so I had a frame of reference, but still had no idea about the show. One of the kids at the table drops his mouth open and said, almost in disgust, "What do you mean what's The Walking Dead? You've never seen the show?" "Um...no, I haven't." "Mrs. Duncan! You should watch it. It's about zombies and people that aren't zombies trying to not get attacked by the zombies. It's so cool! You should watch it." And then, there was like a ten minute conversation bewteen these three second graders about The Walking Dead, and some guy named Rick, and how awesome the show was. There was talk of blood and guts and how gross that one part was. And I just couldn't stand it anymore... "Your parents let you watch this show?!" Again, I try super hard to not judge, but from what I was hearing, I wasn't sure this was an appropriate show for seven year olds to be watching. "Yeah! We watch it together sometimes. They think it's cool too!" So, we moved on with our game, and the class ended. I finished my day and came home, cooked dinner, did bath, and tucked my still slightly sickly six year old into bed. It's funny how my days sometimes just tie right together when Amelia's one more thing mommy moment was, "Mommy, why can't we watch Grey's Anatomy with you anymore?" Oh yeah...I didn't explain that part. Well, this summer when I was trying to catch up with Grey's Anatomy before the start of the new season so I could actually watch it on TV like a normal person, the girls would catch some pieces of the episodes with me. And then the plane crash episode came on, and for the first time, my girls were exposed to some TV that I'm ashamed they saw. So, as I'm judging one parent on The Walking Dead, I should not cast stones because I too make mistakes and make poor choices. So, tonight when Amelia asked that question, I kind of felt like it was God's way of saying, "Um...soften your heart lady. You're not perfect either, remember?" I explained to Amelia that Grey's Anatomy was a show for mommies to watch, and that there were a lot of grownup topics in the TV show that she was too little to be watching. She asked me why I used to let her watch it and I just told her that that was a mistake that mommy made, and that I wasn't comfortable with her seeing some of the things that were happening on the TV, and that it might be bad for her nightmares, and that I shouldn't have let her watch the shows before either. She said something about God being sad when icky shows were on, and I told her yes, that God doesn't want us to fill out hearts and our minds with bad images or bad thoughts or bad words. She nodded, asked to say a quick prayer to ask for forgiveness, and then wanted her kiss goodnight so she could get to bed. In my guilt of being too judgemental with these parents, I decided that maybe The Walking Dead wasn't so bad. Maybe I was being awful and judging parents wrongly. So, I searched for the show on Netflix. What luck! It was there. So, I got my chocolate for the night, and sat down to see what this show was all about. Maybe seven year olds have vivid imaginations and it wouldn't be so bad! I pressed play on the Blu Ray player and snuggled in for the show to start. And oh...my...goodness...I think I made it through maybe 30 mintues before I couldn't believe what I was seeing! It was gory and bloody and awful. There was shooting and stabbing and swearing. There were vivid images of bullets tearing through flesh. There were awful, disgusting zombie images with body parts that were gross. I was wrong to judge those parents, because I shouldn't do that, but I still could not believe that there were second graders watching this show. Second graders! Seven year old babies watching zombies tearing into a horse. Little boys and girls witnessing people getting picked off with a rifle like it was no big deal. Picture Amelia sitting next to me watching the show made me sad for these kiddos. I worry that watching the Disney movies will give Amelia nightmares, and these babies are watching this?! It made me very sad. I know that we are all different in our parenting styles. I know that there are some people that are reading this blog right now that maybe completely disagree with me. Maybe I am making people angry by my words, because I do realize that I am judging another parent. As many times as I have written in my previous blogs about how I don't want other people to judge me, that I'm doing the best that I can. I get it! I'm a hypocrite! But, it saddens me to think that there are little kids, little kids that I know and work with, that are watching The Walking Dead. I work with so many angry, violent, unhappy, depressed little kids and I can't imagine that watching shows like this is helping that any. I know that Amelia and Emerson both have vivid nightmares. We struggle to sleep many nights. I know that watching The Walking Dead tonight may give me nightmares. What is it doing to those little babies that cannot process everything that they are seeing with their seven year old brains. I feel sad for those kids. They are so young and innocent to be exposed to something as graphic and as gory as The Walking Dead. But in listening to their conversations, it was only the tip of the iceberg. They quickly jumped from talking about The Walking Dead, to talking about Breaking Bad (apparently a show about making meth) to playing Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto 5 and Halo. I am glad that I protect my children's innocence. I know that things get through sometimes, like letting my guard down and letting them watch some Grey's Anatomy, but after hearing those kids talk today, and seeing the images from The Walking Dead, I feel more convicted than ever to be careful of what my children are exposed to. They grow up fast enough! And my kids have enough worries and anxieties without adding zombies to the list...