# "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!" -- Bad for Kids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744 "2012-10-24T17:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/1 "2012-10-24T17:50:12Z")
That’s the claim of one Dad on the internet: > **[Parents: Parenting News & Advice for Moms and Dads - TODAY.com](https://www.today.com/parents?lite)** > > Parenting stories, trends and tips for every stage of parenthood > [@](#): > > “The show is riddled with the kids calling each other stupid, dumb, and blockheads. There is continous teasing and bullying. Charlie Brown is supposed to be the hero, instead he is kicked and demeaned at every turn, even by the adults giving out candy,” Buzz Bishop, otherwise known as DadCamp, wrote at [Babble.com](http://Babble.com) recently. > > Bishop argues that apart from a sense of nostalgia for parents, the Charlie Brown specials have nothing of value to offer today’s kids. He finds the shows’ acceptance of schoolyard teasing to be antiquated. And, as the father of young kids, he finds the constant use of words like “stupid” “dumb” and “blockhead” to be a bad message for those little ears. “Charlie Brown is always an outsider, the cool kids continue to play tricks, and nobody is ever held to account. In an era of hashtags like #RIPAmandaTodd, these types of attitudes are no longer appropriate,” Bishop wrote. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/2 "2012-10-24T17:58:21Z")
Charles Schulz once got a letter from someone disappointed in his strip for pretty much the same reason. It was for his very first strip (Shermy says, “How I hate him!”), and he got the letter within a few days. Some people will never understand. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/3 "2012-10-24T17:58:43Z")
As a father, and a responsible adult, I think there’s only one appropriate way to respond to Mr. Bishop’s concerns: _Wah. Wawawawah. Wawawah wawawah, wah wah wahwa._ ETA: that’s intended to be read as trombone sounds, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/4 "2012-10-24T18:04:04Z")
I think it can instill trust issues in children who are aspiring to become professional kickers in the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/5 "2012-10-24T18:14:35Z")
Yeah, heaven forbid kids should be shown as they really are with each other. Don’t get me wrong, as an adult I love kids. When I was a kid, I found the behavior of the Peanuts cast toward each other at least realistic, if not a little on the idealized side (there was some actual friendship in there with all the teasing). ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/6 "2012-10-24T18:27:25Z")
Holy crap. Now, the Charlie Brown Halloween special doesn’t come close to the classic Christmas special, but it has moments. Maybe he missed it, but the Charlie Brown specials also usually contain a moral and a message. That’s the whole point. Charlie Brown does something, gets called dumb, gets redeemed in some way, kids realize Chuck isn’t such a blockhead after all. The end. Well, in the Halloween version, Chuck and Linus sort of switch roles, but the same theory applies. Change the friggin’ channel if you don’t want to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/7 "2012-10-24T18:28:20Z")
It also has a dog that thinks he’s a WWI flying ace, isn’t that also bad for kids? It might cause them to do bad things to dogs (or something). Bishop is a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/8 "2012-10-24T18:28:47Z")
Cyber-Dad is missing the point: kids \*are \*cruel, they \*do \*bully, and kids already know that. But Charlie Brown shows them how to take it with aplomb and not let it get them down. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/9 "2012-10-24T18:33:17Z")
I hate the Peanuts comic and cartoons. So, yeah, if I happen upon them on TV by accident I do quickly change the channel. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/10 "2012-10-24T18:55:45Z")
Who the hell gives out rocks for halloween? Why doesn’t Charlie Brown run up and kick Lucy in the ribs? Is Pigpen homeless? Schulz had issues. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/11 "2012-10-24T18:56:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Cyber-Dad is missing the point: kids \*are \*cruel, they \*do \*bully, and kids already know that. But Charlie Brown shows them how to take it with aplomb and not let it get them down. I must have missed the one where Charlie Brown doesn’t let it get him down. Charlie Brown is a walking friggin Prozac commercial in kid form. ---
**Author:** ![destineal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@destineal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/destineal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/12 "2012-10-24T18:58:28Z")
Good grief! ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/13 "2012-10-24T19:02:55Z")
Buzz Bishop is a stupid, dumb blockhead. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/14 "2012-10-24T19:05:53Z")
Snoopy’s WWI flying ace scene used to upset me when I was a kid. I had forgotten all about that until my 4 year old nephew reacted in the same way to it last year. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/15 "2012-10-24T19:16:37Z")
_Peanuts_ was pretty darn dark at times, with its share of misery, angst, and cruelty. I’m overjoyed to hear that such things are antiquated and kids today are no longer exposed to them. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/16 "2012-10-24T19:23:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Is Pigpen homeless? The strip has shown him at home - and _clean!_ - a few times but the dirt returns as soon as he steps out the door. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/17 "2012-10-24T19:36:15Z")
The point I think a lot of people miss is that _Peanuts_ was not a strip about children. The kids in that strip were stand-ins for grown-up personalities, anxieties and weaknesses. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/18 "2012-10-24T19:59:54Z")
Jeez! Charlie Brown is every kid. That’s the point! ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/19 "2012-10-24T20:02:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The point I think a lot of people miss is that _Peanuts_ was not a strip about children. The kids in that strip were stand-ins for grown-up personalities, anxieties and weaknesses. Quoted for truth. I almost never do this but I do not think Peanuts is for kids. (Of course I loved Peanuts when I was a kid…As does my son.) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744/20 "2012-10-24T20:07:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _Wah. Wawawawah. Wawawah wawawah, wah wah wahwa._ Hey, buddy, keep it clean, there are children around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-bad-for-kids/638744.md?page=2)