Finding “suitable” shows for Arcade Son is difficult at times. He loves things that are slightly off the wall and what I like to refer to as Frantic. However working with him on understanding the types of behavior he sees on these shows versus whats acceptable in real life can be frustrating.
Example:
He loves Johnny Test on Cartoon Network and I’d love to let him watch it more frequently. He simply doesn’t understand that about 90% of the behavior that Johnny Test exhibits should never be done in public.
There was an episode where Johnny and his sisters skipped school and were being chased by a Truant Officer. The lessons my son took from the show was that it was:
- It was okay to run from Police
- Police are horrible people
- It is okay to NOT go to school because you want to see a movie
Oddly enough for him, shows like Adventure Time, Pokemon, and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are okay for him. He acts out a few scenes here and there, but he recognizes that they are okay to talk about but not act out.
Through trial and error we have learned that these shows are “okay” to watch, but might need some moderation or explanation:
- Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (the Disney released show)
- Adventure Time (Definitely needs some parent supervision for this as its a pretty bizarre show)
- X-Men (any of the animated shows)
- Iron Man
- Fantastic Four
- Generator Rexx
- Ben 10
- Sym-Bionic Titan
- Power Puff Girls
- He-Man (Either the old series or the short lived new series)
- Batman
- Batman Beyond
- Justice League
- Young Justice
- Star Wars: Clone Wars
- Penguins of Madagascar
Here is a list of shows that require virtually zero supervision; and with some minor explanation on my part, can be pretty beneficial for him:
- Thomas the Tank engine (He likes to tease allot after watching certain Thomas Episodes, so we work to teach him that teasing isn’t nice)
- Fireman Sam
- Pokemon (Pretty much any season)
- The Wiggles
- Phineas and Ferb
Shows he knows he can never watch because of problems that crop up. Occasionally I will sit with him and we will watch together, but it is a rarity.
- Johnny Test
- Mad TV
- Spongebob Squarepants
This is all I can think of for now, but I will definitely add to the list as I come across more.
I am debating on adding a rating system to the above list, if people are interested please let me know.