Like any other mother, I want the best for my children. I make sure that they eat healthy foods, that they are getting a good education, that they know the difference between right and wrong. But I still allow them to grow as their own individual selves. I praise them for a good job done and take great interest in the new things they are learning.



Often as a family, we sit and watch movies together, and within the past few years we even watch a lot of TV together. I feel it is a great necessity to monitor what our children listen to and watch. My question is, is this too much? Am I one of those overbearing, protective parents who just wants to control their kids, or do I just want to make sure my kids grow up to be anything and everything they could ever imagine?



My problem is this. My daughter is eight. She is an African-American eight-year-old girl in love with Hannah Montana.  I have considered not letting my daughter watch Hannah. My daughter once told me she wanted straight blond hair. Now I’m not trying to make this about race, but there are not a lot of shows on television for young girls who are other races so that all girls can see themselves in the characters.  They instead see something wrong with who they are.  I told her, "Honey, Hannah is Miley who wears a wig as well. This is just TV. Miley is her real self."



Not that Miley is such a great role model for an eight year old either. I am straight with my kids. I do not put them down and make them feel beneath my level. I show them how these teens are in real life, and the trouble they get into.



Unfortunately, I do not think that at age eight that Dora is exciting anymore, but yet, Hannah is a bit much for me to handle.  Not to mention High School Musical. These are young adults in their twenties still portraying teens. But most teens are not into High School Musical.  We live in a society where our children are growing up quickly, and I think it is because of what they are exposed to. Are we protecting our children from the real world too much, or are we exposing them to it too much?



What does your eight-year-old daughter watch on TV? iCarly, Hannah Montana, True Jackson VP, Zoey 101, Ruby and The Rockets etc.?  Are there other options I’m missing, so please help me out. 



A concerned mom blogger,



Aisha (author of http://aishaladon.com, http://greeneyedmonster.greenpress.com,

http://twitter.com/aishaladon)