sorry kids, you can't watch spiderman?

ok after today's lecture my mind is blown.
all i have been thinking about is
spiderman is bad?!!!
i have to tell my 4-year-old he can't watch spiderman?!

let me elaborate.
today we learned about educational television- particularly for preschool-aged children.
4-5 year olds are my favorite after my experience in the preschool (if you couldn't already tell).
i love this age. they are so capable and bright.
but they're still so moldable and innocent - it is for this reason that I am so concerned.

first i'll focus on some of the awesome and really positive things that we learned:

• there's never been a better time than now for educational tv for preschoolers.  Think about it... there are so many programs directed toward 4 year olds- teaching them with interactive games and asking questions so they'll respond. blues clues, super why, and dora- to name a few. There used to only be mr. rogers and sesame street. We've never had it so easy- which also (to me) means this caution: it's so easy that i'll probably want to let my kid sit there for hours because... hey! it's educational!
• educational tv (and especially disney movies) show sooo many acts of prosocial behavior- acts that 4 year olds have been found to imitate and learn from. (one of the most fascinating things we learned was that Pocahontas has 2.79 prosocial acts per MINUTE!! The highest of all Disney movies- according to a study done by my very own professors (Coyne and Walker) 
• kids who watch these shows have better vocabularies, problem solving skills, intelligence, and show higher information acquisition (Anderson, et al., 2001). They are getting smarter and learning by watching!

Now, let's get to the really interesting stuff.

There was a study done in 2005 (Mares & Woodward) that tested prosocial and antisocial acts to see what their effects would be on the viewers (preschoolers).  They found that when children watched prosocial behavior, they were definitely influenced by it and imitated it. HOWEVER, they also found that antisocial acts are JUST as influential.  AND when prosocial acts were mixed with aggression (ex: Superman kills the bad guy, but it's a good thing because, you know, he's the good guy getting rid of the bad guys) it led to these children behaving much more AGGRESSIVEly.

You have to understand that children can't distinguish between fantasy and reality until age 7. 

Now after knowing that, can you see why children would think it's totally normal to
"kick the mean guys in the shins" (quote from my favorite movie One Fine Day). 

Can you see why your 4 year old would act aggressively because they do imitate the behaviors they see?  They don't understand the difference yet. 

So... on to what i've been thinking allll day.

What am I going to allow my kids to watch and at what age?!

What age is it appropriate for them to watch Spiderman and shows like Spiderman? 

7?

I never would have thought it would be detrimental to my kids.  I don't want to be the most hated mom, but I also want to be cautious about how i raise my kids- i want the best outcomes.

I could also start telling you about what i know about fast-paced television shows (Spiderman) and what those do to young ones... 

Let's not.  I'll get off my soap box.

But really,

what (and when) are you going to let your kids watch?

have i rocked your world or are you not convinced?