Editorial: Positives for kids in TV, movies

I returned to work yesterday after a week's leave that was spent with the kids and it gave me new insight into the role Hollywood plays in our children's lives.

Any break in the rainy weather was spent outdoors on bikes or walking on the beach but there were a few days when movies and television stopped the younger members of the household and myself going crazy.

There is no doubt that movie theatres and Sky Television have got the whole holiday marketing thing down to a fine art. Did you know a family pop-up channel appears on the pay TV channel every holiday?

It is also amazing how many kids' movies are released during the holidays. My daughters saw two this holiday - Home and Cinderella - but it could easily have been double the number.

It got me thinking about the fare that is being offered to our children. You always hear about the inappropriateness and unsuitability of a lot of what is available these days.

To a certain extent it is true and some of the sitcoms on the Disney TV channels deal with issues that are too grown-up for young children. However, I am often surprised when my younger two come up with some pretty insightful comment or very clear moral or ethical statement.

I ask them where they heard that and they reply it was in some or other animated movie.

It has become very clear over the last number of years that as animated movies have become more sophisticated, they have become more appealing to adults. Often there is humour for the adults running parallel to the jokes for the kids.

It is quite effective and the good thing about these movies is that everything is right in the end and good always outweighs evil.

If you choose carefully what they watch, the children can learn a lot.