Tuesday, 16 September 2008
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Reality TV Shows, Pop Music, Etc... Bad Influence on Children?
I was relating to some friends about how my sister at age 7 was singing "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry.
One friend argued that it wasn't going to turn my sister lesbian or anything, and the song wasn't even a song about being lesbian. Yes, I know that, but the fact that my little sister who hasn't even moved up to the upper grades of elementary school is singing it bothers me.
She also said that little kids aren't so innocent anyway, and that anything we did wouldn't influence them. Granted that kids are little munchkins, but I have to disagree and say that what we do DOES influence them and we influence them a lot.
As the eldest, I watched my brother and sister grow up, and even though I went through the normal stages of acting like I was too old to do anything they wanted, or teasing them about every little thing, I thought a lot about how they would grow up. I didn't want them to turn out impolite or disrespectful. I wanted them to get excited about education, and not just focus on what's the latest game or fashion trend. My siblings have reached a medium with these things, I guess. My brother likes to play video games, but he loves math as well. My sister hasn't been in school long enough to know what she's got a knack for, and for now she loves to play the quintessential dress up and be the ball of energy she always is.
But I'm scared of the other things that happen around them. My sister is always watching the variety shows on GMA( Philippines main channel) as well as the comedy shows. The dancing, singing, and acting that she picks up is incredible to fathom at that early of an age. She dances like an early Britney spears, with the choreography (not with the outfits) and is very dramatic in her re-enactments. Sometimes she gets so caught up in whatever is on TV that she doesn't know that it's just acting and not something in reality.
I’m always telling them things that a mom would say. “Wash your hands before you eat.” “Finish your homework.” “Don’t talk to Mom (or Dad) like that!” It’s a bit weird, considering I’m just their big sister, but I’m overprotective. It’s also an experience thing. I want them to know the same things I learned, and the same things I went through, but I know that they’re different from me and they’ll learn at different times. No matter how many times I keep saying this to myself, I end up telling them some lesson or that they should have learned “this” and “that.” I’m just stubborn like that.
I get worried when I see shows like Total Drama Island on Cartoon Network and the variety of shows I won't care to mention specifically on Nickleodeon and Disney Channel. Some shows were just meant to be on Noggin (channel for teens) and not on main kid networks. I understand that Cartoon Network has Adult Swim, but it has clear warnings at the beginning of the block and most kids should be in bed by 11. But times are changing. More and more each day things are created for kids to emulate the adult life and it makes me think of the childhood that they are replacing for synthetic adulthood. These shows have teens in stiletto heels, glitter make-up, tacky clothes, and bad stereotypes. Total Drama Island is a cartoon reality show that is like a Survivor for teens. The show specifically focuses on teen stereotypes in order to make the characters more memorable for the viewers. The geek, the jock, the pretty girl, the nerd...where does it stop? Why do we need to show the children of society some conformity, when we are supposed to be teaching them to break it. This show is rated PG and has a parental-discretion warning after every commercial break and at the beginning of the show. You would think PG is good enough for parents right? Yet the first episode I saw of the show had a scene where the challenge was to knock off the person holding onto a rope attached to a jet ski by riding fast. One of the girls was on a jet ski and turned around to cut off the rope. Her top (which was a bikini top) caught onto a branch and it came off. CAME OFF!! There was a moment where her pixelated chest is bare and then she covers herself. What kind of image is this trying to say?
I know I have no control over what kids watch, but they should know what is decent and what isn't. Since when is it okay to put stripping into a kid show? Sex education is one thing, plain lewdness is another.
It's the same thing with music, but it's harder to control. Songs like "I Kissed A Girl" and various other songs have been out and about for a long time. Once it becomes a hit, there's no stopping the song from hitting the radio waves, on stations that kids could be listening to. Yes, yes, there is Radio Disney, but they are bound to hear the song somewhere. What do kids think of when they hear these songs? Do they even know what the lyrics mean? I guess it comes down to the parents/guardians in their life. Control over exposure to these things is crucial, but sometimes things just slip by the cracks.Do you think that the world has gotten careless in exposing children to things outside their age? Has it always been like this or have I just been naïve? Is there anything we can do?
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Comments (12)
It's hard to shelter kids but at the same time, that is no excuse to expose them to anything and everything. When a song on the radio comes on that I think is inapproriate, I switch to CD immediately. I do not like that song "I kissed a girl" or "I'm inlove with a stripper" and a lot of other inapproriate songs. I think it's horrible that kids have access to many bad things now a days and its also terrible that the cost of living is so high that it takes 2 incomes to comfortably survive. I use to think badly of Stay-at-Home moms but now I understand that its a good choice for kids.
I've been of the view point that the quickest way to rot one's brain is too much TV and select radio stations; I don't have such a problem with the songs as I do a lot of the talk-programs that are on...you don't get a rating on those, it's trial and error of listening to them.
However, I do think there's a difference between a bikini top accidently coming off at the beach and, say, a cartoon character pole-dancing and stripping. I wouldn't be upset if my child was exposed to the former, I would if she was to the later. If I asked, I'm good with saying, "Her bikini string accidently untied and came off." over "She's trying to pay for college. Her parents didn't start a savings account when she was younger. Don't worry, sweetie, you have one." in the explainations department. We all have to find the right balance of sheltering our children from things that they're not ready to process on their own and sheltering them from life.
I was JUST talking to my husband about this last night. A Victoria's Secret commercial came on with some girl in underwear..well you've seen the commercials. I said "when our son is like 7 or 8 and starts REALLY noticing girls...this is going to bother me so much, this is a family channel!" and don't even get me started on Bratz dolls and the terrible clothes and make up they wear! I'm scared for both my son and daughter that even on family oriented channels and radio stations...they will be exposed to things I wish they wouldn't be. The problem is the more we are all exposed to, the more things become acceptable because it dulls the shock factor. Had they had a commercial like that VS one I saw back in the 50's someone would have had a heart attack! Truth of the matter, it's NEVER going to get better. We just have to rely on our teachings with our children. Even if they see or hear those things we need to explain them and how we feel about them and maybe they will understand.
I think society as a whole like to keep pushing the limits...if it's never been done before, it's time to do it. Children have been so desensitized, and they really don't know what is in/appropriate anymore. I think it's time to take a step back to some sort of wholesomeness. Kids really don't have time to just be kids anymore.
My family and I used to watch Amazing Race together all the time. When the contestants curse, they bleep it, but as I remember, they did not bleep the d word. I never noticed, and I actually learned it probably around 4 months later from hearing a 6th grader (I was in 4th grade) say it, and since he said it, I thought it was okay. I learned the rest of the curse words the same way- it's what the 7th and 8th graders said at the back of the bus. Many of them learned about curse words the same way I did, not TV. If you don't approve of this in TV, then you might as well take away all of the classics that mention these words as well, including the widely popular teen romance, Twilight. The only reason I don;t mind this is because the author uses it in context and only when most appropriate, unlike the 7th and 8th graders who say them randomly in a sentence to make themselves look cooler.
Obviously the media has a lot of influence on children. My mother told us to never emulate the things we saw in the TV, movies or videogames; she even stopped us from watching Power Rangers because we were starting to fight like the charachters in the show. In my experience I can say that my mother did a good thing because I don´t go around using drugs, smoking, drinking and sleeping around ( my brother is a different story). But still I don´t think the media has all the blame. Remember the Columbine High School Massagre? A lot of people where saying that the "hidden messages" in MM songs made them do it, and they DIDN´T even liked his music! The kind of environment in which children grow up also influences the way in which they turn out to be A LOT.
everything a child is exposed to is influencial. whether they or we pick up on it at the time.
i think the media has become more socially acceptable, compared to what it was say 10 years ago.
Do you think that the world has gotten careless in exposing children to things outside their age? Has it always been like this or have I just been naïve? Is there anything we can do?
Yes, VERY much so!!! No, at least in US History. Choose to turn off the TV when the trash comes on.
I absolutely hate Katy Perry.
I don't have a TV because anything worth watching is on the internet commercial-free!
I will say that I don't know who started this rumor about the inocence of children, but it's just that. I can remember at every stage in my life having fantasies about things of a mild sexual nature, even before I knew what sex was. I used to think it was just me (because who talks about this kind of thing?). Then I asked around, and even made it the subject of a Xanga post. Every last person I talked to admitted to having amorous thoughts as a child, and some even would tell me they masterbated at every age (as did I). Dont' worry, I do realize that not every child will act on their fealings with others, and it is best that they don't, since they have yet to learn personal responsibility.
As for the song "I kissed a girl", how is that any different from the children's rhyme "So-and-so, sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G!" Children love to talk about kissing and pretend they think it's gross. That's a part of growing up. The fact that it's a girl kissing a girl and not a boy doesn't change that one bit.
I don't know about your sister, but when I was her age (and later on) I didn't understand what the lyrics meant. Half the time I don't even know what someone's singing unless I have it written in front of me. We had inappropriate songs back in the day (read: late 80s, early 90s) as well, they were just a little more subtle about it. But it's good that you're protective of your siblings!
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