Okay I get it now. I personally think those shows are very funny. Crude yes, but I'm an adult and I love to laugh my face off. Aqua teenage hunger force is funny too. If you actually sit an watch alot of Robot Chicken (as well as Family Guy) it is a very witty spin on pop culture. I think young viewers wouldn't get much of it as it is usually referrencing 80's pop culture which they are to young to know about. I guess even as an adult if you didn't grow up playing with the action figures used on the show you wouldn't enjoy it either. But I personally did.

But these programs start at 11pm here not at 9pm which is way too early in my opinion. Do my kids watch it? Nope. But they do see Family Guy on Sundays on Fox and as usual most of the jokes they really don't get.

Hockeymum, if you ask me those cartoons are all bad, (Adult Swim, Robot Chicken and South Park) I think that type of cartoon began with The simpsons, it isn't as bad as those above ones but its not one that I allow my kids to watch. I have a 9 yr old and thank goodness he still likes spongebob.
It does have a disclaimer about adult content I guess its just the fact that we assume that cartoon channels will have cartoons for our kids/ children.
On my TV adult swim starts at 9:00 that is not late at night. kids are still flicking through channels

Hockeymum, Robot Chicken is a part of Adult Swim. Adult Swim includes (but isn't limited to): Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Family Guy, Futurama, and Moral Oral. There are more shows, many of which originate in Japan.

And, South Park is a Comedy Central cartoon. Basically everything on there is geared for adult viewers.

Is Adult Swim worse than Robot Chicken? or South Park? (both which i find hillarious btw).
We don't get that one up here yet. It has to be a big hit and then our Teletoon will pick it up.

The line-up you are referring to is a block called Adult Swim. Note: ADULT. They even have a disclaimer that appears throughout the block that states that the shows may be inappropriate for viewers under 13, and that parents should be aware of this.

Cartoon Network isn't JUST about kids. It's merely a CARTOON network. Not all cartoons are for children. The Flintstones originated as an adult cartoon spin-off of the Honeymooners. It wasn't permit-able for children to watch due to the simple fact that Fred and Wilma share a bed.

With that said, Adult Swim is on quite late at night for the very reason that it is for adults, and children really should be in bed by the time it's on. If you look, nearly all networks have programs geared more towards adults in the later hours.

Parents should always be aware of what their children are watching. If they're watching TV, stick your head in the room periodically to see what they're viewing. Also, TALK to your children about WHY certain programs/channels aren't for them.

I completely agree with msowder15. Some of the things on Adult swim are disgusting. Parents need to take an active role and know what their children are watching. You can not assume that since the name of the channel is Cartoon Network, that it is geared towards children.

i agree with msowder,i dont let my kids watch that show it is horriable and not appropriate for anyone to watch.

i think that that is just wrong and sick!!

To the shock and awe of some here, I will admit that I'm an Adult Swim watcher. I'm not an avid watcher, although I used to be one before my teenage stepson left for college (he watched it more than me). My advice is to first be knowledgeable about the type of programming your children watch. You can't assume anything with today's media. I've never watched South Park because I find it's humor offensive, but some people like it. I like anime, but I don't buy it because you never know if you're going to get US or Japan version. Most people don't realize that some of the more popular anime in the US today (Dragonball Z, Yugiho, etc) had to be 'cleaned' up before they could be initially shown here. Most started out as pornos. Think about it, they were created by males in their early 20s, in a country that has legalized teenage prostitution. What do you think were their interests: Fantasy fighting, mecha, sorcery, space, and most of all SEX. Adult Swim as mentioned is not even geared toward kids, it is strictly and adult program. They know their target audience. Men who have grown up on a steady diet of saturday morning cartoons and kung fu flicks. My new Verizon DVR records all the Justice League, Futurama and HEROES: Villians that I can handle. My kids love going to see Fantastic Four, IronMan, The Incredible Hulk, etc at the movies but I'm really buying the tix because I want to see the comic book heroes I grew up reading about.

Having said that, I use the parental setting on my cable box more now than I have ever done. The V chip has been in TVs for a while, but I never knew/figured out how to access it's features. My 5 yr old DD will stay up to watch TV sometimes, but when she does, I watch more appropriate things with her. I leave Cartoon Network on (occasionally) in the evening, but only because I already know the lineup and what each program is about.

I do not let my children watch these shows. I will tell you what I seen on adult swim that night. It was a man raping a teddy bear over and over, now I must say I find this unsavory.

After reading all the responses, to me this really does boil down to adult supervision. You cannot just turn on the television and walk away. Nor can you assume that just because it's on a cartoon network that "any" of the cartoons are appropriate for your children. I personally don't find Adult Swim or other adult animation (which I find hilarious) unsavory. It's just not for everyone, especially children under seventeen. On the guide portion of cable programing, it does give a description of the show and what it's rated. With that in mind it's hard for me to wrap my head around the justification, that people don't know what kind of show there about to watch, or let their children watch.

okay....

Because shows like South Park and The Simpsons (and many others) tackle really serious topics with really great humor. :)

I'm sure the adults that watch Adult Swim have their reasons too.

OKAY, 1 QUESTION???? Why are adults watching cartoons, on cartoon --net-work???? THAT IS SCARY....

carvell04 I will check into this and thanks for the info.

I forgot about Sprout. That's another good one.

My smaller children watch "SPROUT" it is affiliated with PBS Kids. We have Direct TV and all of the shows on this channel are geared for young children. It is also on 24 hours a day, so little ones can even watch in the middle of the night. That channel is geared towards younger kids. I agree with you, I was quite disturbed when I found out about Adult Swim. Another suggestion would be to block those cartoons. You should be able to block shows that have certain ratings and adult content.

There actually *is* a station geared toward small children, and Cartoon Network isn't it. Look for "Noggin" - it's educational shows (cartoons mostly) for preschool/kindergarten and maybe a little older. My 11 year old enjoys some of the cartoons on there.

For the middle kids, the Disney channel can be good (depending on the show). I don't let my 11 year old watch CN because it's not appropriate. Maybe for highschoolers and up but not for kids.

Ultimately, we as parents have to know what's available and make the choices that we feel are best for our kids.

We watch a lot of SciFi, History, Science Channel and National Geographic here. Not so much with the cartoons that are just brain rotters.

SoCalGal - we only have 1 TV for viewing too. My daughter has one in her room, but it doesn't get cable and there's no antenna either. She can play games on it (when we hook up the PlayStation)... we haven't done it yet.

This is why we have 1, count 'em, 1 TV with cable access in our house. We watch TV as a family. DD finally got a TV in her room for viewing movies when she was promoted from the 6th grade. She continues to beg for a cable connection.

When she was younger, there were shows she wasn't allowed to watch - because we didn't approve of them. Now that she is older, we don't censure her choices, but there are some shows that we refuse to watch when we are home -- she can watch them in the hour she has on her on or on the computer in the corner of the family room.

Cartoon Network isn't geared toward children -- only part of their programming is. As Child_of_Ra pointed out, lots of adults like to watch cartoons. Animation in and of itself is not the exclusive territory of children's programming. Look at anime -- very popular, and not always appropriate for kids.

The problem is confusing the format of a show production (animation) rather than the content and hour it's on as to whether it's appropriate for children.

It's probably safer to assume that Nickelodeon's programming is geared almost exclusively toward children than to assume Cartoon Network is.

I agree with you MSMomm. The ultimate responsibility belongs to the parent. If not, kids will learn their values and morals from the negativity that goes out over the airwaves. Is this really how we want our children to learn right from wrong?

MSMomm thanks for responding and I really never thought about their rates dropping.

laura: You're welcome. And yes, they put an an "all grown up" version, which isn't any better than the baby one. The kids are still the same, but just bigger. :(

"RUGRAT'S" that is it, thanks, MSMomm, there is a al grown up???? good greif!!!! and to think...OUR parents--thought our cartoons were bad?????

These stations need to keep up their large viewing audience. If they didn't offer programs for everyone, adults included, their ratings would drop dramatically after 9 p.m.

Also, they do it because they can; it's a free country. In the end, it's up to the parents to monitor what their children are watching.

I see it as a challenge to parents: Are we, as parents, up to the challenge to monitor what our kids are watching, taking interest in what our kids are doing, or not? I am.

Great feedback! I understand the point everyone is making but still with all the channels there is I really don't understand why they would choose to put these shows on a station that is geared towards small children.

What there is on the Cartoon Network is a block on late nights that is geared toward adults. Family Guy is in there as well as many others. Lots of adults watch cartoons. The station figures that parents are taking responsibility for their children's viewing habits.

www.adultswim.com/index2.html

If your kids are watching things they shouldn't I recommend getting a device that gives you parental controls, or talk to your cable provider about what parental controls they may already provide with your service.

Laura, agreed children are learning things much younger that are not appropriate for their age. Some of them I'll bet know more about sex than we do...and also more than I did as a young lady ..years ago.

I have known elementary children who watched tv till 11pm..Yikes!..The programs they were allowed to watch...well, there is the remote settings to block what a child can or cannot watch on TV. I'm for that. Some shows we would watch as a family and talk about why some issues regarding the plot of the show wasn't neccessary to get the point across. The Adult Swim I think is aimed at the adult audience not for children, however like I said some children are allowed to watch tv and if the parent allows shows like Adult Swim to be viewed by their child. I don't know why they would allow it. Every parent teaches their child differently, or they don't even know they are watching it.

laura1967:
The cartoon you're referring to is "Rugrats." And then there's "Rugrats, All Grown Up" (if you're really that interested).

I've never been a fan of "Ed, Edd & Eddy" either. A couple of years ago, I was talking to a former special ed teacher, who said that many kids with high-functioning autism really liked "Ed, Edd & Eddy," because these kids could relate to the main character's way of thinking, perceptions of other kids and parents and conclusions. This character's thought process (if you want to call it that) was very concrete, which many HF autistic kids relate to.

I also, liked "BLUES CLUES" and a couple of others----but some were "AWFUL" , AND for the life of me...i can not remember the names!!!! The one with all the babies??? the mean, little girl, and "chucky, with the blanket????

I really do not like the show's that are on at children, hours....I spent most of my time --telling..my child, boy that was "RUDE, and NOT NICE"...although , i really, liked "LITTLE BEAR"

I would guess that overall, there's very little on TV at 10 p.m. that's appropriate for children. It's something of an expectation on the part of programmers that there's a time of day when young kids wouldn't/shouldn't be watching TV.

I wouldn't have a TV or a computer in a child's room either.

I also agree with "dhfl143", in that if you make your op-ions, known, on a personal level....NOT FORBIDDING.....to your child,To where, they already have your in-put and you let them , make their own choices....and YOU WOULD BE PROUD..they "may" watch it at a friends house....but come away with--you know mom, "you were right that is where the start of OPEN-Communication starts"....at talking....THAT IS SSSOOO IMPORTANT....

When we discovered this we use the adult controls available with the v-chip to block the content...just in case...

Even more effective has been the open communication with our child about the programs that are considered acceptable for our family. While we can control what occurs in our house, there is no way to control what children might be exposed to at friends houses. I was pleased to learn my child was been able to redirect viewing choices while at a friends house to meet with our expectation without drawing attention or critizing another family's viewing options.

I have found that even, if you do not let your children watch it, they find out about it at school, and the other kids "copy" what they saw on T.V....so yes, i agree ,it is better to watch it with your child- and also, make comments- on if it is good or bad....that is why, i am speaking about "ISSUES" on ..."NOT MY CHILD SYSDROME", our children, are learning "STUFF" much younger, then they should!!!

This is why it's imperative for parents to monitor everything their kids watch. While Cartoon Network is for kids during the day (and even different ages at different times during the day), at night it's essentially a different channel. Shows on many networks are appropriate during certain hours, and later the networks show programs that are not for children.

Cartoons like the Simpsons, South Park, Beavis and Butthead, and Ren and Stimpy appearred on various networks and some children watch them although they are clearly inappropriate for most children.

One way to handle it is to watch with your children and turn off offending programming. Another way is to at least try to catch a few episodes before you let your kids watch, and you can always Google a program beforehand to get an idea of the content of a show.

Being a parent is challenging, but it's not impossible. It just means you do have to pay attention and never trust your job to someone else.

Adult Swim has been on Cartoon Network for quite some time. My 17 year-old watches it occasionally. I don't allow my 12 year-old son to watch Adult Swim, or other cartoons that I don't approve of, even some of the cartoons that are on during the day. When my son is with his father, however, he has watched Adult Swim. (I don't EVEN want to go there now.)

It's unfortunate that even cartoons have turned unsavory. Parents must continue to monitor what their kids are watching, that's all. Just because it's a cartoon, doesn't mean it's for young children.