Screentime Indigestion
The super-high glycemic processed western diet isn't the only bad thing kids are digesting. I believe obnoxious television and movies are even worse than dietary factors when it comes to poor behavior. Kids mimic what they see and believe to be cool. (I can't say I mind all the Darth Vader quotes from my son.)
I am disappointed at the amount of apathy and defeatism I have run into with parents. At times it makes me want to scream that parents that know better and admit to knowing better do not vote with their pocket books and the channel-change buttons on their convenient remote controls. They DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GET UP to change the channel or turn it off!!!! Uugh! I guess I just don't understand. Perhaps it is just easier to let Nick Jr. and Disney raise the kids.
Also, the MPA is forgetting to rate movies on whether or not they are going to teach your kid to act like an idiot. There needs to be an obnoxiousness scale implemented, in addition to the scales used to rate sex, drugs, and violence, that will rate many of these terrible kid films as an R.
I am disappointed at the amount of apathy and defeatism I have run into with parents. At times it makes me want to scream that parents that know better and admit to knowing better do not vote with their pocket books and the channel-change buttons on their convenient remote controls. They DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GET UP to change the channel or turn it off!!!! Uugh! I guess I just don't understand. Perhaps it is just easier to let Nick Jr. and Disney raise the kids.
Also, the MPA is forgetting to rate movies on whether or not they are going to teach your kid to act like an idiot. There needs to be an obnoxiousness scale implemented, in addition to the scales used to rate sex, drugs, and violence, that will rate many of these terrible kid films as an R.
posted by Tiffane | 7:41 PM
4 Comments:
Yes, it's a bunch of crap. However, you never know what your kids will learn from all of the televised crap they consume.
You and I were exposed to a lot of television as kids. If I hadn't watched Meet the Press as a 4 year old and David Letterman as a 7 year old, I don't know if I would have landed a job that is both scientific and political (and be witty enough and clever enough to handle it) today!
T.V. can promote creativity! Of course, you have to be predisposed to creativity (Julia Child anyone??) :)
Case in point -- Tom wouldn't have been Beaker for Halloween at age 37 without too much t.v. as a kid!
The problem is that I don't ever see Beaker on t.v. anymore. I do see Kermit on PBS advertisements selling some supposedly environmentally friendly car.
Most of what is out there now is LCD TV (lowest common denominator, not liquid crystal display, LOL). But every once in a while, there are a few gems that are silly yet still intelligent (Bullwinkle, anyone?). And I think there is a place for pure silliness, without having the need for an ulterior educational motive. There's something in a child's pure infectious giggle that keeps me young (I hope).
Ultimately, I think most cartoon fare is junk - including the things we loved as kids. I loved Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner as a kid, and I'd probably still laugh at a lot of those cartoons today. I worry more about oversensualized themes than I do silliness. Hello Nurse is actually what keeps me from letting the kids watch Animaniacs. I think kids realize when something is over the top and can appreciate it as such, which is probably what they find so hysterical.
Post a Comment
<< Home