Kids' TV

[.Sabre.]

I want to know what you think of the following:
http://www.horridhenryontv.com/

http://www.bratz.com/

http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/kimpossible/

http://disney.go.com/princess/html/main_iframe.html

Questions:
1)Do you think it is appropriate for 5-11 year olds to be shown these things?

2)Horrid Henry depicts a large amount of antisocial behavior being rewarded or gotten away with. Do you think that a child would copy this behavior?

3)The Bratz, Kim Possible and Disney sites posted here show impossibly thin girls. Do you think a young girl would try to copy this?


1) No. Horrid Henry's behavior is rewarded and in some instances he has been good solely to get a reward, which I think is wrong. The girl sites here mentioned depict impossibly skinny, doe-eyed, "perfect" girls whom many young girls might idolise and thus behave irrationally about their own looks.

2)Yes. I've seen the effect on my own brother. He was always naughty, but he now copies Horrid Henry's way of speaking and treating people.

3)Yes. My cousin, who is 9, is a huge Bratz fan. She is obsessed with fashion thanks to the shallow Bratz.

Now, I know you can't generalise from my examples and I'm not trying to. They are merely examples of what could possibly happen to children who are inundated with antisocial behavior being glorified, over-thinness in girls and obsession with fashion.

 

[sbvera13]

While not a parent I have spent considerable time looking after my niece, now 7. I agree with you that these media are objectionable, my niece at least is easily able to tell the difference between fiction and reality. This may be because her grandmother and I have both talked to her about shows like these whenever we were watching her. If parents do not take an active, education role in their child's life they have no business passing the blame to popular media.

I admit the media are superficial and flawed, but so were the ones I watched as a kid. Complain all you want about them, they are there whether we like it or not, the key to raising a socially healthy child is strong parenting.

 

[Leanna]

I think its all crap that destroys the imagination and causes you to sit on the couch rather than exercising and experiencing and the answer is to turn off the TV and turn on life. So that's what we do. My son barely sees TV

 

[.Sabre.]

You might think this strange, but I'm a teenager who doesn't really watch TV that much. I prefer my books. Always have done, since I started reading.

I agree that watching TV gives you a jaded mind. My mother and I are constantly fighting with my brother to go and do something constructive and put the TV off.

 

[Philosopher Odds]

Yeah... little girls are going to look at a cartoon character and want to be as thin as her... right.

 

[Leanna]

I don't think that's strange, but then I grew up that way. People my age discuss TV from the 80's, but I don't know TV from the 80's...... I watch some now though at night

 

[Pheehp]

[wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth] kim possible is AMAZING everyone should watch it ^^

 

[sister_maynard]

Kids can pick up messages from the media and try to copy them, but the messages and behaviors don't sink into the kid's actions until they're reinforced and encouraged without a strong moderating influence from an authority figure.

 

[FadingWhispers3]

TV is good for some things... learning a foreign language or cooking, for example.

 

[Dahlia1]

Yeah... little girls are going to look at a cartoon character and want to be as thin as her... right.

Think of it this way: subliminal messages. A long time ago in the movies quick flashes would be shown of pop, candy, etc. So what happened? Sales greatly increased at the food stand and people didn't even realize that they were seeing the commercial. The consumers didn't go "I see popcorn on the screen, I'm going to have some popcorn." They went "What a nice scene. I'll go get some popcorn."
People often don't realize what goes on under the surface in our minds.
The messages in the media are the same way. This is what 'beauty' is-that is what they tell us. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Even if we don't consciously realize what is going on, that has to effect us in some way.

 

[Nithavela]

1) Depends on their state of mind. 5 might be a litte young, but at 8 they should be fine. It's at the discretion of the parents who, sorrily, mostly don't give a care what their childrens look.

2) Some might, but most would just laugh, depict themselves doing it and then go on with their life. They might try out some of that but will notice that unlike Henry, won't get away unscathed, thus learning a lesson for life.

If they are good enough to get away with it, they learn a lesson for life too. Maybe the even will become politicians.

3) Girls these sicknesses from the models and actresses shown day by day in television. Cartoons are not real, and most children realize that. That we, as a society, bombard them with real pictures showing all these thin culture icons like singers and models. They see that thin girls get all the attention in school while fatter girls are seen as ugly and typically shunned. You want to change societys look at weight? Show some women who look good although they weight more then their bones and their skin combined.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Such TV-shows do not create the problematic societal idea(l)s, but merely reflect them. Barbie dolls, anorexic cartoon characters, "beauty" contests for little girls, actual "supermodels" on the creepy side of thin: all of this helps to perpetuate the standards that our current culture encourages, by transferring them onto the next.

That's not to say that it's a good thing. All I'm suggesting is that we ought to look a little bit further than just the TV-set when we try to get to the root of such problems.

Personally, I'm even more concerned about the images of masculinity that are communicated by tv shows and video games "for boys": violence and emotional autism seem to be almost universally encouraged ideals.

 

[Leanna]

Such TV-shows do not create the problematic societal idea(l)s, but merely reflect them. Barbie dolls, anorexic cartoon characters, "beauty" contests for little girls, actual "supermodels" on the creepy side of thin: all of this helps to perpetuate the standards that our current culture encourages, by transferring them onto the next.

That's not to say that it's a good thing. All I'm suggesting is that we ought to look a little bit further than just the TV-set when we try to get to the root of such problems.

Personally, I'm even more concerned about the images of masculinity that are communicated by tv shows and video games "for boys": violence and emotional autism seem to be almost universally encouraged ideals.

I completely agree.

 

[united4Peace]

Hmm my kids watch the Simpsons(they are 8 and 10) so I cant really comment on those shows.
(They also watch YuGiOh, Mystery Hunters, Prank Patrol, etc)
However in the summer we cancel the TV as we have the kids involved in activities.
In the winter they are as well but they do watch TV more so at night.

I think one should make it clear that what they see on TV is NOT real life