In the 50s and early 60s when I was growing up the cartoons were funnier and sometimes even educational – almost! Think Mr. Peabody’s Way Back Machine on Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The message behind the cartoons back then was usually good triumphing over evil. Now it seems, at least in what I see my grandkidlets watching, to be using super powers or technology to beat the bad guys. But you have to do bad things to beat them. So it’s almost like EVERYONE is a bad guy. Some just worse than others.

The so-called adult cartoons send an even more frightening message. They ridicule the family, especially Dad. He’s always a drunk or an idiot. OK, I really did grow up with Ozzie & Harriet and Father Knows Best. And in my own life of 57 years, I’ve learned that my father really did know best. He was a strong, honorable man who took care of me from my birth to his death. I could always turn to him and my mom for advice and assistance and love. It really hurts to see dads treated so badly in these animated, trashy cartoons.

My guys have watched South Park and other adult cartoons and though we laugh (because some of that stuff truly is hilarious) I usually walk out after a while because it just gets over the top raunchy after a while. I can handle a bit of that stuff, and then I’m done.

The boys usually flip it to something else after a while. Which is rewarding because they are choosing to watch something more interesting, like Deadliest Catch.

I’ve always exposed them to stuff like that and we’ve talked about what we’ve watched. Now, it’s like old news to them and they would rather watch something else.

I’d like to think my husband and I have had something to do with that choice. *grin*

And just for the record, I don’t think watching cartoons warps anyone’s brain; I just think given the stupid, brainless humor that is in today’s cartoons (which no one can deny are nothing like what we used to watch back in the 70′s – the “humor” is more crude and just a bit on the risque side) is truly just pointless and on some levels dumb-down our children.

And I’m NOT saying that ALL of today’s cartoons are like that. However, going back to my example, I truly think Ed, Edd and Eddy is the lamest, and most dumb cartoon I’ve seen in a long time.

If our kids are going to watch TV, why not direct them to something more productive? That’s all I’m saying.

However, the shows you listed — Dirty Jobs, How Its Made, The Deadliest Catch, Myth Busters — are among our favorites as well. (you have to through the Speed channel in there … Pinks, Wrecked …. David dispatches for trucks, so of course he is snared into truck-oriented shows.

Maybe I have no sense of humor, but one show that I really can’t stand, and I hate it when my guys watch it – and laugh and laugh and laugh — is America’s Funnest Home Videos. Yes, there are some funny videos shown. But, the worse that it LOOKS like someone gets hurt, the harder my guys laugh, and I just don’t get it. I’d like to see some video cuts of AFTER the fall or running into the tree. Course, I sit out the demo derby every year for the same reason. There is just something very unnerving for me to watch cars crash … intentionally.

I am such a stick in the mud….

We grew up with The Jetsons, Flintstones, Top Cat (after whom I named my beloved T.C.), Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Dick Dastardly and the Wacky Races, and, of course, Rocky and Bullwinkle. I still love Fractured Fairtytales. Watching those shows didn’t warp our brains.

I admire your determination to challenge your kids and assure that they are well-rounded. The whole key is balance. If something that is designed to be a pleasant, brief diversion from the stresses of daily life begins interfering with that life, it’s time to make a change.

This year MattieBoo is taking several Advanced Placement classes & will be working very hard at school. If he is bringing me good grades in those kinds of courses, I have no problem letting him unwind in the evening with some video games and a few silly cartoons.