It's for your own good!!

After a week of relaxing in beautiful Sedona I decided to spend the drive back catching up on email and reading the news. Little did I know that this exercise would result in my family hating me.

Letting my 4-year-old and his even younger brother watch Star Wars is not one of my prouder moments. I’ve written about how it was me who really wanted to watch it, and I went on to make lots of excuses about why they still do.

I didn’t feel good about it, but I let it go until my sister sent me a blog by another mom who had done the same thing. But the writer included a study that had evidence proving that when preschoolers watch violent programs they become juvenile delinquents, meth addicts, and serial killers. Okay, it didn’t really say all of that, but it did say that it can lead to violent behavior in the tween years.

Not only do my kids watch Star Wars, they play it on the Wii. My husband said the game isn’t just about killing the other characters, it’s about problem solving. I asked my 5-year-old what his favorite part of the game was and without hesitation said, “killing the badguys.”

That’s it. No more. No more watching Star Wars until they’re older and no more Star Wars Wii. “Why???” My 3 and 5-year-old wanted to know. It’s not violent, they said. It’s pretend. Well, it may be pretend, but it’s still disconcerting when my 3-year-old tells his brother he’s going to shoot him.

It’s not just that. I know boys play differently and can be more aggressive, but since we got back from vacation I’ve been watching how other kids play. The boys of our friends who don’t let their kids watch violent shows don’t talk about shooting and killing. They do still push and kick and occasionally punch, but it’s not taken to that next level.

This turn-around from happy house of Clone Wars and light sabers to one of PBS and Wii bowling is not one my kids are embracing. And they’re not liking me much either. I’m hoping after a few weeks they’ll just forget. Yeah, right.

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