The affect kid shows have on children is amazing. This morning while I was cleaning up after breakfast, SpongeBob came on. This is not something we usually watch because…well, I think it’s stupid. Anyway, I wasn’t really watching but I was aware of what was going on. During this 30-minute cartoon, I noticed that every time SpongeBob wanted something, he threw a huge tantrum. He was actually somewhat mean too. Maybe I am just a little old fashioned, maybe I just like to criticize things, whatever it may be it made me have a rare epiphany. Are my kids responding to what they see? Is this a reason why THEY throw fits and tantrums? Maybe not, but the behavior portrayed in these so-called kid shows are astonishing. Even popular kid films have adult innuendo. We will be watching something as a family and I will hear a crude joke that I know went way over the boy’s heads and I say, “Ohh, wow, I can’t believe they said that.” Of course, most of the time I think it is funny. This is only because I know that my kids don’t get it. In addition, I have noticed that even family shows that are aired at prime time have curse words in them. When did words like Ass and Bitch become acceptable for a family audience? I don’t say these words around my children, why is it okay for pop culture to do it. It teaches them that it is okay, when its sooo not!
Since my kids are young, its easier to avoid the things I don’t like them to see. We have a set bundle of things that we watch together that we can trust. Our DVD’s, races, funniest home video, etc. We normally don’t stray from our regulars. Any adult shows are TVO’d and watched when the kids go to bed. (Their bedtime has been my bedtime so; we really don’t ever get to watch grown up shows J)
I’m scared of what will happen when they get older. Shows that are aimed at the younger generation, I’m talking preteen and teens are practically R rated. Have you ever seen some of these MTV shows like Skins, Awkward, Degrassi, or Teen Mom? Skins is practically a porn, Awkward has underage drinking, kids having sex (I mean from age 14 and up!), and language that is out of this world. Degrassi is much the same. Even Teen Mom is starting to get ridicules. It started out as 16 and Pregnant, which I think was great. It touched on the subject that teen pregnancy is happening and it shows kids what it is really like. Now that Teen Mom has gained steam, those girls are well known, making a lot more money, and they have an essence of fame about them. When you watch Teen Mom now, you see teen girls, living on their own in nice places, driving nice cars, doing what they want, dropping out of school, domestic violence, and the list goes on. The money that they are making off of the show, takes away from the effectiveness that I believe the creators are trying to portray. A typical single teen mom would be struggling a lot more. The show almost glorifies it and makes it seem as if raising a child is not that hard. Let me just say, I watch some of these shows. Maybe I am a hypocrite but I find them acceptable because I am an adult.
Even popular music has gotten crazy with the lyrics. Rihanna has a song that shocked me out of my skin. The lyrics were so graphic and if I heard my kid singing it, I would surely flip my lid. OH? What’s that? You haven’t heard it? Oh, well….let me give you a glance. Here is the main chorus, “Cause I may be bad But I'm perfectly good at it, Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it, Sticks and stones May break my bones But chains and whips Excite me.” Fitting I guess since the song is titled S&M. What is that teaching? Just so happens that the very next song on the radio was singing about a guy who has 8 balls of cocaine. I just shook my head. Is it bad that I wasn’t surprised? I think I’ll stick to my oldies station. I want to go back to the time where “Puff the Magic Dragon” was really about a dragon whose name was Puff. Everything is distorted in this day and age. I always hear people saying, “What happened? It wasn’t like this when I was young.” Well, sit down for this…are you ready…my grandma says that, and her grandma said that and her grandma before that said that. Everything changes. Taboos are broken. The world loosens up and accepts things differently than they would have 50, 30, even 10 years ago. I guess if we don’t like to watch or hear it, then turn it off or change the channel. I just worry about the influence. Kids are so impressionable.
Am I the only one who is bothered by this? Or do I just sound like a prude?
