I only have girls - I'm so made of win! - so the danger of them emulating House as a role model is limited. Besides, they've been raised on a diet of irony and sarcasm, so they're a pretty hardened bunch. (I should note that most of my acquaintances do not approve of our parenting style.)
They've been watching since they turned twelve (roughly); in the case of the third we had long discussions on whether it was suitable for her or not, because her sisters were watching, but I didn't want her to watch yet. I did have slight qualms when the second one, at age fourteen, expressed the desire to marry House. (Please note, House, not Hugh Laurie.) Since the other two candidates on her list of potential spouses were Kurt Cobain and Johnny Depp, I decided to let House stand as the least dangerous choice of the three. (Johnny Depp actually exists and is still alive, while Kurt Cobain has absolutely no redeeming feature that I can think of that would make him a suitable husband for any child of mine.) But given that a lot of adult fangirls, even ones my age and in steady relationships, express a desire to jump not just House, but even Hugh Laurie (sorry, but I'm old and curmudgeonly enough to consider that in pretty bad taste), I don't think that her problem is one that will magically cease once she reaches adulthood. (I've told her that she's free to jump people like House, but that she should marry someone who is closer to her father and her uncles in behaviour and to herself in age.)
I find the show a good starting point for discussions on morals and absolutes. I'm a bit of a religious nutter, so my kids have been getting brainwashed in my church since they were born. For some reason, despite my own religious convictions, I don't approve of convictions based on ignorance, and I don't share most of the moral and social opinions that my brothers and sisters in Christ propagate. If my children are to follow in my footsteps, I want it to be because they make an educated choice, not because they've never even considered the alternatives. And I certainly don't want them to follow society's rules blindly without realising that those rules are a mirror of a certain age and culture, not absolute rules of conduct based on immutable laws. In that sense, IMO, early season House is an excellent role model. I do, however, make it clear that bullying people who are one's dependents (his team, patients, their loved ones) is not a sign of 'coolness', but rather the opposite. People who possess natural authority don't need to resort to manipulation to exert it. Kids can normally relate to that quite well: if one asks them which of their teachers they respect, they'll point out the ones who manage to tame the kids without yelling, resorting to psychological warfare or turning the kids against each other.
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Date: 2012-02-24 11:31 am (UTC)They've been watching since they turned twelve (roughly); in the case of the third we had long discussions on whether it was suitable for her or not, because her sisters were watching, but I didn't want her to watch yet. I did have slight qualms when the second one, at age fourteen, expressed the desire to marry House. (Please note, House, not Hugh Laurie.) Since the other two candidates on her list of potential spouses were Kurt Cobain and Johnny Depp, I decided to let House stand as the least dangerous choice of the three. (Johnny Depp actually exists and is still alive, while Kurt Cobain has absolutely no redeeming feature that I can think of that would make him a suitable husband for any child of mine.) But given that a lot of adult fangirls, even ones my age and in steady relationships, express a desire to jump not just House, but even Hugh Laurie (sorry, but I'm old and curmudgeonly enough to consider that in pretty bad taste), I don't think that her problem is one that will magically cease once she reaches adulthood. (I've told her that she's free to jump people like House, but that she should marry someone who is closer to her father and her uncles in behaviour and to herself in age.)
I find the show a good starting point for discussions on morals and absolutes. I'm a bit of a religious nutter, so my kids have been getting brainwashed in my church since they were born. For some reason, despite my own religious convictions, I don't approve of convictions based on ignorance, and I don't share most of the moral and social opinions that my brothers and sisters in Christ propagate. If my children are to follow in my footsteps, I want it to be because they make an educated choice, not because they've never even considered the alternatives. And I certainly don't want them to follow society's rules blindly without realising that those rules are a mirror of a certain age and culture, not absolute rules of conduct based on immutable laws. In that sense, IMO, early season House is an excellent role model. I do, however, make it clear that bullying people who are one's dependents (his team, patients, their loved ones) is not a sign of 'coolness', but rather the opposite. People who possess natural authority don't need to resort to manipulation to exert it. Kids can normally relate to that quite well: if one asks them which of their teachers they respect, they'll point out the ones who manage to tame the kids without yelling, resorting to psychological warfare or turning the kids against each other.