My mother wasn't crazy about my watching DS either. She thought Barnabas was a bad example/bad hero
Well, DUH! However, my mom recognized a good story when she saw one, so she managed to overlook that and, in fact, was a DS fan herself. Though, honestly, parents who feared Barnabas was being set up as an example probably weren't very familiar with the show. I mean, Barn's behavior was never intended to be imitated in any way, shape or form and it looked more to me like the writers went out of their way to show that most of what Barn did brought him nothing but misery and heartache. That couldn't have been lost on most kids - except maybe really young ones - and most really young ones probably shouldn't have been watching anyway. But most of us weren't really young when the show was on. We were old enough to get it. Or at least the kids I knew were.
I wonder why our parents didn't want us to watch the show.
Most were probably just afraid DS would cause their kids nightmares.
Was it because they thought we would turn into Satan worshipers
Though there were certainly more than a few religious fanatics who thought DS might just do that - as insane as that might seem to most of us.
And a few of them did actually manage to get DS taken off the air for a time in a few areas - but fan outcry usually managed to get DS right back on the air before too long.