To Shelter or Not to Shelter?

There is this really nice family that I know. They have three kids, two boys, one 3 and the other 5, and one girl who is 10. The parents are wonderful people who love and adore their children. But, I have an issue with how they raise them. I was around the children, namely the daughter, and was telling her mother a story about my accident. And in my story, I said the word butt, because I had fallen on it and almost broke my tailbone. The mother corrected me and asked me to not say butt around her kids. Umm... Ok? Sure. I'm not their parents so I will respect her wishes. This wasn't the only thing that struck me as odd.

At the end of the night, when they left, I had found out many things. Their daughter, Grace, saw The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time at home. But after her mother struggled to let her see it at all. Her mother thought that it was WAY to violent for her daughter to see, but in the end decided that since there was no blood, it was Ok. ......? Her daughter is ten years old. I understand if you don't want your child to watch something like Hitman, but Chronicles of Narnia is a movie that teaches some good lessons that children should learn. If you don't want your child seeing blood at all at ten years old, fine. But when will it be Ok?

Another thing that bothered me was that Grace wanted to sleep over at her friends house. This would be her first sleep over ever. Sadly, she wasn't allowed. Not because her mother didn't know the parents. In fact, she knew them quit well because they are friends. The reason why she wasn't allowed over was because she didn't approve of the fact that Graces' friend watches a kid T.V. network called Nickelodeon. She felt that the cartoons were too violent for her daughter to be watching.

These violent cartoons that she is talking about is Spongbob and Fairly Oddparents. Again, I understand if she doesn't want her younger boys to watch it. Grace is 10. 10. When is it Ok to expose her to these things? Spongbob doesn't nessearrily talk about the real world, but it has underlying morals. I just don't understand this way of parenting at all. I feel that this poor girl is in for a rude awakening. Parents cannot shelter their kids like this. How long will she let this go on? Not for long I hope. But I just can't imagine what it's going to be like having her mother protect her like this.

On the other hand, I dunno if people should let their children see what my brother has seen. At age 8 he played Grand Theft Auto. He also has played games like The Punisher and Hitman. He watches Family Guy and South Park on a regular basis. And the other day, he watched the movie Super Bad. He always makes rude comments towards race and sexuality. He is turning 11 in May.

Now, I understand that most of the comments are just repeating what he has heard. But because of that, everything has to be explained to him. He never listens though, because he thinks what he says is funny. For example, he was playing World of Warcraft and called someone a fag. I jumped on him right away because he has no idea what he is saying and he needs to understand why it's so offensive. He only says these things because of the things he has seen. I just don't agree with it all. And I have a hard time with my mother because she lets him do it.

I believe you should protect your kids from certain aspects of life until they are age appropriate. Not letting them see what they can and letting them see too much can damage them.

I just want to know what other people think and feel about this. I get so frustrated with how my brother is being raised sometimes that I don't know what to do or if I should even do anything. Please tell me what you think!

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