This evening I babysat 4 kids, ages 11, 8, 8, and 4. Overall, they were well behaved and sweet, until bed time, when you just expect them to freak out. There were a few unfortunate observations however. The 4 year old boy is addicted to playstation. His mom says he plays it all the time, and since they haven't had an "intervention" yet that I should just let him play. He also recently learned to use "bitch" and "holy crap." The 11 year old boy is addicted to a computer game, which he played for the first two hours I was there. He is also allowed to watch R rated movies.I did manage to wrend them all away from the electronic opium to make paper, and the parents got home a little earlier than expected, and I was handsomely rewarded for my time.
Now, I really am in no position to criticize. I saw R rated movies well before the tender age of 11, and was addicted to tv, video/computer not really being an option for me. I turned out okay, right? And we all like to think we would parent differently than our own parents did, or than others we observe, but when it comes down to it we don't have 3 kids to keep track of and keep from killing themselves or each other. At the end of the day all we can say is that they are healthy and fed and clean and literate, and whatever dubious techniques got them there might fall by the wayside.
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Yeah, this is one of those things I react strongly against, but without knowing how to form a solution. Like, for instance, when I heard my 6 year old nephew say "F*** you, Mrs. Cheney! F*** you, Tipper Gore!" Apparently, this was a quote from an Eminem song, to whom my sister has no problem letting her kids listen.
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