Appropriate or Not?

6 is too young for icarly I don't even let my 9 yr old watch that.
at 6 she should be watching educational shows.
Adn like the others said just because it's animated it does not mean it's for kids. keep her on PBS ,Nick jr , and Disney Jr.
What about SuperWhy, and Word World?

I like SH have heard that these shows can lead to early puberty.

My 6 y/o is watching it right now. Im always around when she is watching it and we talk about the behavior on there that I dont like. Kissing boys is gross and stuff like that.
I, personally love the show. My husband sit there and watch it if its left on. We are dorks.

yes-it is too young. I learned that the hard way. My now 7 yo is girl crazy and to him it is the most natural thing in the world to have a gf, have crushes, to be in a 'relationship', to breakup and to make out. I Carly and shows like it such as Suite Life teach this to our young kids because that is the bulk of what is happening on these shows. Kids watching these expect this to be THEIR reality when the kids they are targeted to are much older. MAking out, dating, breaking up...all of this would not be learned if not watched daily on these shows. One of the biggest mistakes I have made as a parent is to not put my foot down with these shows and I regret it. So turn off these shows and let her enjoy being and innocent chid for another couple of years.

Oh- and many parents will tell you these are fine shows because they enjoy watching themselves. I never really understood that.

When my neice and nephew stay with us, we get quite a bit of HannahMontanna & iCarly. My son's behavior, actions, and speech patterns change a GREAT deal after just a week or two of these shows. :P

Ya wanna uncock your shoulders and your eyebrow and try that again, mister?

The idea that kids/teens need to be "at odds" with their parents and other authority figures is one of the most pervasive themes in a lot of 'new' shows (past 20/30 years).

And YET, when we go on a binge of watching FAR more adult programming, and older TV where the "attitude" and "at odds" aspect is replaced with 'trusted mentor'... low and behold after just a few weeks THOSE behaviors, actions, and speech patterns start to replicate themselves in my son.

Kids really are sponges, both statistically and anecdotally. I've learned, if I don't want my son acting *exactly* like what he's watching on TV (or around certain groups of people) the way to circumvent that is to NOT have him watch those types of TV or be around those groups of people.

So personally, I'd strongly recommend against it.

The heart of a child is a precious thing.

Great question....

I say 6 is too young.

I always feel like the strict and weird parent when we are someplace and they put on Spongebob for the 4 and 5 year olds and my 6 and 7 year olds still aren't allowed to watch it!

This is the age where I really started to question shows and their appropriateness - in fact, I was about to ask about one my son wants to watch!

I have a 7 year old (almost 8 year old). She does such little TV watching (literally maybe an hour per week) so luckily we don't have much issue with this type of thing. I still think she is too young for the shows you describe, so I really limit her viewing. Most of the time we are viewing educational programs and lucky for me, she loves those.

ETA: *Neither of my older kids have the "reality" problem Mallory describes, so maybe that is due to the TV limits I have instilled since day one. They are into reading and playing, not the other sex.

Good luck to you!

Having a young child watching tween/teen shows isn't a good idea. Maybe your daughter doesn't like Dora and Diego because she's unable to learn Spanish from them? That is the main point of those types of shows... learning - maybe you can phrase it to her as a challenge... "I bet I can learn the Spanish faster than you can!" or "I think I'm able to remember about those animals, can you?"

Also, just because it is a cartoon does NOT mean it is age appropriate for young children!

NOT a fan of icarly, hannah montana or any of those shows. In my opinion, 6 is too young, but my daughter is 4 so I don't really know what to suggest. Strawberry shortcake or care bears?? My neices loved those at that age...

Some times shows like this are not right for children, with the exception that you are sitting next to her discussing the program & how it relates to life. I have specifically used a variety of movies to watch with my children in order to open discussions about real life situations, examples & choices.

I let my twins watch that when they were 4. The show is innocent compared to others out there. As long as your daughter knows the difference between right and wrong I don't see it as a problem.

My daughter is 6 and I don't turn it on. I am a teacher & can tell which kids watch programming that is "too old" for them.

We go to the library & I have her watch old episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

On Boom... I think that is the network, they run old cartoons, like Smurfs, that she likes sometime.

My kids like Scooby-Doo, too.

Don't let Dora & Diego fool you... my 6 year old still likes them, too. If she whines about Wonder Pets. I simply say, "Wecould just turn the TV off." That quiets her very quickly.

I don't know this show since my kids are still preschoolers. My older one is 5 and about to start K. He is still happy watching most of the preschool shows. He sometimes complains but still watches. Arthur, Martha Speaks, Worldgirl and several of the other PBS shows are good for primary grades (they are aimed at kids older than preschool, maybe 5-8 or so). Most are on in the afternoon rather than during school hours. I would say old reruns of Little House on the Prairie and Brady Bunch are not a bad choice either. My kids like Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show on DVD.

But I bet he has no problem with her watching Disney princess movies where the characters are kissing boys, sneaking around, and lying...

I think icarly is better than spongebob he's not aloud in our house.

I don't know anything about ICarly.....my youngest is now 27 and a college professor and our grandsons are too young to be watching tv...but I can tell you from what some of the other Mom's are saying that it sounds to me like this show is not one for a 6 year old...or anyone young enough to be influenced by it.
My Dad always used to tell me "Garbage in....Garbage out"...as one of the other Moms has already told you...children are little sponges...so why not have her watch something that you would WANT her to emulate and copy in her life? Give her the tools that she needs to live a happy life without being forced to grow up way too soon

I used to like iCarly - her brother is hilarious- but one of their shows was SO disrespectful toward the elderly that I refuse to let my son watch it. It made me absolutely sick! So, no more iCarly for us. There is a lot of bad attitude coupled with that show too.

I wish I had some suggestions for you but we cut our Dish Network a year ago and so we only watch what Netflicks has to offer.

SAdly it seems like there is a lack of good shows for that age group -- once they grow out of the pre-k programming all that's left is the pre-teen stuff on Nick and Disney. I have a 8yo son and 7 yo daughter who are into Zack and Cody, iCarly, and yess those goofy Fred videos. There's part of me that thinks that it's a little old for them (they are both grossed out by idea of kissing) but I think it's pretty harmless. They do learn lessons about how to treat others and there are consequences for poor choices. And there is adult supervision, it's just not from traditional Mom and Dad. And I'm always pleased to see how my kids are inspired by the skits and silliness and turn the TV off to make their own videos.

As for TV starting puberty -- can someone link to that study? That makes no sense to me whatsoever, so I'd be interested to read the science behind it. I mean, if what media we are exposed to early on affected puberty then I wouldn't have been such a late bloomer: I started sneaking my mom's Danielle Steel novels when i was 9!

My daughter is 5 and my son is 8 and they love all those teen type shows. I don't often let them watch iCarly but they do love Zack and Cody, and honestly it is pretty funny. My kids want to watch all of those, Pair of Kings, Good Luck Charlie, etc I think Wizards of Waverly Place, Good Luck Charlie, and Zack and Cody are ok. For other options my kids love Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Flinstones, etc One thing I like to do is go through the kids stations during the day or night and when I find these shows like Scooby doo, I DVR them and that way when there is nothing on except the teenage shows, I turn on the DVR shows for them to watch. Or I buy them Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo dvd's and have them watch that. I like Backyardigans, Charlie and Lola, Angeline Ballerina, Max and Ruby, etc if she likes to watch cartoons, I don't think they are baby'ish, I love to watch them. :o)

i dont let my 6 yo watch it, but as far as they go icarly sounds better than phineas and ferb
we borrow movies from the library and my 6 you still likes max and ruby and olivia, as well as arthur

You have to watch it on youtube, by my 6 year old daughter LOVES My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic. I even like it as well. Definitely have her give it a try.

I don't even let my 10yo watch iCarly.

She also loves Strawberry Shortcake, Rugrats, and Spongebob. There's a lot of good older stuff on Netflix instant.

My daughters are 14 and 16 and I don't like them watching that show (although they have been since arround age 11 ocassionally). IMO most of the show is horrible. There are no adult supervision, most of the time the kids are acting like spoiled brats.

I really don't understand why anyone (although I know there are many) who would let their young children watch this show when there are so many better options available.

I don't like the blonde girls (Sam) attitude at all. She is very distasteful and rubs me the wrong way although my teen watches it and my 6 year old. My 6 year old is watching Fred right now. It is funny but down right stupid. I was laughing so hard while watching it.

I personally think this show, along with others along the same line, are way inappropriate. So inappropriate that I cut out my cable in March because all my girls (3 & 5) talk about are boyfriends/girlfriends & kissing.

Just this evening my 12 yr old niece was telling me that she thinks not letting our girls watch these shows is a great idea because there was too much for them to see at such a young age.

Good for your husband to recognize these shows are terrible for your impressionable daughter

Dear A.,

I agree with your hubbie, iCarly is not appropriate for the 6 year olds. Hopefully you are limiting her TV time. Watch food TV together or Discovery shows and PBS shows are great for that age. Please make use of your local library and use DVD's that are fun and educational.

Introduce her to Tom and Jerry =>