Super Hero Whinge

[bobtob]

Ok, So heres the thing'

My son turned 4 this week and he was given heaps of Spiderman and Batman toys and I am really mad about it! Why? because he is only 4 years old, why are these toys marketed to such young children?? The spiderman movie is rated M and the Batman movies I think were the same, the one I caught a bit of seemed quite dark and scary.

My son has never seen anything with these characters in and yet, just to really wind me up.....he loves them!! He is a very normal 4 yr old, has a thing for guns which also winds me up but i try to be relaxed about it, but this super hero business is just so wrong, surely at 4 we should let them enjoy the Wiggles and Hi5 for a couple more years, yes, SPiderman and Batman esscentially sort out the baddies but if they were really harmless they would have a cartoon of them on ABC kids!!

Am I being over sensitive? :confused:

Am I the only mother who is concerned over what our kids(and us parents as we are the ones buying it) are being sold?

I feel better for getting that of my chest but am interested to know what anyone thinks, Thanks for your time!!

[Angel_baby_1982]

I can see where you are coming from but don't personally have a problem with anything but toy guns.

I get more annoyed about the images young girls are subject to! Marketing towards kids today is really bad, boys are targeted for the agressive stuff and girls are targeted for the sluty stuff. My 8 yr old cousin had a screaming fit last week coz her mum wouldn't buy her hipster jeans, a miniskirt and a skimpy midriff top! Not appropriate for such a young girl!

[nemosmum]

Hi Girls,

I agree our kids are growing up too fast these days, I hate all the violence our kids are exposed too. I dont like toy guns and not much into the super hero thing either.

DS is only 15 months old and his obsessed with Buzz light year and yes I think the blame falls directly on our shoulders as his parents LOL I mean where the ones that put the toystory growth chart in his room, were the ones that bought the toy story cot bumper and where the ones that on occassion have let him watch toy story 2 (but in our defense he only watches it in 20 min slots LOL :D )

I agree our little girls are being bombarded with "sluttty" products all the time, from the clothes to those Bratz dolls LOL am I wrong or do they just go a bit too far with all that stuff.

And dont get me started on the aggressive targeting of our little boys- DS loves
HI-5 now but for how long?

I think the only thing you can do is try really hard to emerse your son in things that you deem appropriate for his age, his still young enough to listen and theres always chrissy coming up (if your into that) so you could overload him with fun, safe toys and see what happens.

[mimi]

Yep! Superheros, guns, Bratz dolls, BARBIE!!! :eek: I detest them all. And tough it is difficult to keep our kids from being subjected to these things - be it advertising, gifts from non-thinking rels/friends! or just seeing them in the shops - I think we can only do as orlandosmum suggests, and immerse them in appropriate activities/toys/viewing!

Our DS has never seen Spiderman or Batman or Harry Potter etc, but knows an awful lot about all of them from games and discussions with other kids who HAVE [kids his own age -5 yrs - and younger mind you!!!:confused:].

Totally understand the rant, bobtob, but I suppose you can only try to send the message to those around you that you don't really approve of these characters - for future reference! - and just accept that DS enjoys playing with the toys he has now, happily knowing that he won't be subjected to the movies, for a loooooong time!! ... oh and stick to the non-commercial viewing for as long as you can!!!
:)

[Lucybelle]

I am putting a "NO Plastic" directive on Xmas and birthdays from now on. No plastic crap toys anymore - they stink, they break, they are crap for the environment and there is no heart in them.

Yay to the return of lovingly handcrafted toys and clothes, or a homemade cake.

any plastics will quickly be "disappeared" from my place. I can't fit anymore crap in anyway.

[bobtob]

Thanks everyone,
I like the No Plastic idea, will give it a go this Xmas!!
I didnt even go into the Bratz thing as the whole slim and sexy girl thing really gets my goat too!
It certainly seems that life was simplar back when...................!
I am trying to veer him away from the new toys which wont last long anyway, two have already broken!
Thanks for your thoughts

[Ky]

I have put a directive out to anyone who is even thinking of giving my kids anything at any time that I do not want anything that is too old for them ie. giving my 4yo daughter makeup!!!

Bratz I think are just disgusting! For a start ... who wants to put thier children in bratz clothing and label them a brat??? Same with "bad boy" etc ... what are we suggesting is ok to our kids?

My kids are both mad on superheroes, but they are not the advertised ones, just themselves dressed in tights with a pair of undies over them - lol! They even get to wear cloth nappy capes! We talk about superheroes as a matter of course during the day, but in the manner of how they were originally created ... to help and to do good! They didn't necessarily have any powers, they were just kindhearted people who were in the right place at the right time.

Has anyone tried to buy clothes for a 4 year old girl recently?? They are so incredibly grown up, to the point of being almost slutty! It took me ages to find 2 t-shirts for my daughter the other day that were plain colours and covered her properly. No wonder paedophiles hang around playgrounds etc ... our little ones bodies are put on display at a really young age, often leaving nothing to the imagination!

OK ... rant over ...