Television

[CSmrw]

Or just give them something better for them and limit their viewing. OOOOHOOOOHONNNOOOOOO PARENTING!?!?!?! WHYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[Skaloop]

Regarding the OP, what truly saddens me about television today is the state of children's programming. When I was a child, we had clever, amusing, and intellectually-challenging television shows, with real plot and character development. The animated programs were generally well-drawn. Now... children's programming today is a wasteland of drek. With precious few exceptions, it's a condescending miasma of bright colors and simplistic drawings with no real intellectual or artistic value. Something should be done.

You must remember, though, that you are not the target audience. Kids are. Of course an adult is not going to be intellectually challenged by a kids show. But kids, by and large, are. I find cartoons today to be very clever, and offer much better artistic ambience than the cheap-as-you-can-do-it animation of my childhood. The worlds are much more imaginative and inspiring, and now that the fourth-wall has been broken down, much more interactive.

I'm not saying some of today's shows aren't pretty bad, but looking at them through the eyes of age, maturity, and nostalgia is doing a disservice to those that are quality programming.

 

[fillerbunny]

Or just give them something better for them and limit their viewing. OOOOHOOOOHONNNOOOOOO PARENTING!?!?!?! WHYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Agreed.

If a parent puts a TV in little Jimmy's bedroom and allows him to watch whatever he likes whenever he pleases, and he chooses to watch age-inappropriate "raunchy" programs, the problem isn't raunchy programming. It's the fact that little Jimmy's parents are lazy, and they're using his TV as a babysitter.

There is still child/family-friendly TV out there. There is no reason that all programs should have to be kid-friendly.

 

[Silent Bob]

It's the fact that little Jimmy's parents are lazy, and they're using his TV as a babysitter.

Hey I grew up like that and there is nothing wrong with that, now excuse me while I go kick the cat (Tom and Jerry RULEZ!!!).

 

[fillerbunny]

haha.

In all honesty, I was pretty much allowed to watch whatever I wanted whenever I wanted growing up.

But, that said, we had el-cheapo basic cable when I was little, so there wasn't much to choose from.. thus we didn't spend all that much time in front of the TV. It also would've been difficult for me to find something exceedingly un-kid-friendly even if I'd wanted to.

I don't think TV has to be a negative. Heck, I was reading the newspaper at two and a half, courtesy of all the Sesame Street (before it really started to go downhill) reruns my sleep-deprived parents parked my loud, obnoxious, hyperactive, uber-ADD little self in front of whevever they needed a break.. which was often, lol.

It's all in how you use it.

 

[HisEagle]

Personally, I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch a show that included more than 80 obscenity/profanity statements in the hour (45 minutes, really) it's on (that's in addition to the graphic rape scene). That absolutely baffles me. Because I find these offensive, I make sure the advertisers know what they're supporting (it seems several did not) and don't support those who continue to support such filth. They make the choice where they spend their $$ and I make the choice where I spend mine. It's only fair, right?

Rachel, I agree with you - I truly do. I think TV is getting worse and worse all the time. I watch As The World Turns during the day, and even it is starting to get on my nerves at times. Whether it's the blatant showing of a male actor's nude butt, or the recent scenes involving a serial killer in which you see copious amounts of blood flying everywhere as he stabs each victim to death, it just seems beyond ridiculous. And that's during the daytime - hours in which you would reasonably expect a child to be able to watch television with you and not be exposed to such filth. How people get off on this stuff is beyond me.

However, I have to admit that for as much as it seems like a good and noble thing to stick up for your morals and values by either boycotting various products that are advertised during these shows, or simply expressing your discontent with the advertisers themselves - or even directly appealing to the FCC - the truth of the matter is that if you were to boycott every product of every advertiser simply because you didn't like the shows they were sponsoring, there would pretty much be very little you could buy.

That being said, I rarely watch TV that much anymore. I can find much better things to do with my time.

As they say....garbage in, garbage out.

 

[SisterGeoff]

I'm not advocating censorship or anything but heck......

I know that I can turn the television off....but why should I have to?

Personal responsbility, that's why. You have the power to block each and every cable channel you get, or to just not pay for them in the first place. YOu have the option to not watch TV at all. You have the option of buying a tivo, pre-recording everything and putting on fast forward to skip anything that you object to. Please run your own life and refrain from demanding that the state do it for you, and me for that matter.

 

[shadowmage36]

Personal responsbility, that's why. You have the power to block each and every cable channel you get, or to just not pay for them in the first place. YOu have the option to not watch TV at all. You have the option of buying a tivo, pre-recording everything and putting on fast forward to skip anything that you object to. Please run your own life and refrain from demanding that the state do it for you, and me for that matter.

And seriously. Whatever happened to all those awesome kids shows? Reading Rainbow, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Beakman's World, Bill Nye The Science Guy, and all that other good stuff from my youth? Then there was Fraggle Rock and the other awesome non-educational stuff, plus Captain Planet.

Where has all the awesome gone on kids' tv?

 

[CSmrw]

I believe I could watch anything on this planet with any child and turn into an apropriate experience. Porn, Snuff, Rambo, Steel Magnolias, Legally Blonde II. Irrelevant. CHildren are people and people can think and thinkers can be reasoned with. The problem with "innapropriate media" is never that the children will see it but that the adults around them will demonstrate pathetic, craven, feral weakness to them either during or after. They will then understand that some imgaes are so powerful thy can make grown people act like imbeciles, and that knowledge will be used, for better or worse. Want to keep your children free from the effects of innapropriate media? Confront your own idiocy. You and they will both become slightly closer to human beings that way.

 

[CSmrw]

I hated fraggle rock like I hate Focus on the Family, only without the adult patience with those who like it.

 

[HisEagle]

*groundhog hits the "backspace" key and determines that what he was going to write is simply not worth wasting his time on*

I'll just utilize the "Ignore" feature in my control panel. I can't stomach anymore morally reprehensible garbage I read from some people at this site.

 

[theeyesoftammyfaye]

you know what i find personally disgusting on tv? jan crouch decked out with her pink wigs, tons and tons of jewelry, expensive clothes and accoutrements of wealth going to poor towns in haiti to showcase the clinic her ministry built. i'd like to ban that kind of self-important flash from tv. can i do that?

nah. i'll probably just turn the channel. like you can do. like we all can do.

 

[CSmrw]

*groundhog hits the "backspace" key and determines that what he was going to write is simply not worth wasting his time on*

I'll just utilize the "Ignore" feature in my control panel. I can't stomach anymore morally reprehensible garbage I read from some people at this site.

I hear you. How anyone can justify watching Fraggle Rock is beyond me.

 

[Skaloop]

*groundhog hits the "backspace" key and determines that what he was going to write is simply not worth wasting his time on*

I'll just utilize the "Ignore" feature in my control panel. I can't stomach anymore morally reprehensible garbage I read from some people at this site.

Dude, you've just invented the process of taking reasonable measures to protect one's self from personally objectionable material! Good on ya! Now, if only we could get regular people to do the same...

 

[shadowmage36]

Oh, come on!! What's wrong with watching muppets on acid? Admittedly, there is the chance for permanent mental scarring, but-

I'm sorry. I have to go. The voices want me to go do evil things again. Back in a jiffy!

 

[TheMissus]

Maybe I'm just the only one to do this, but I usually program certain channels out so that they're skipped over as I'm flipping channels. I had the Sci-Fi channel and Spike TV programed out until my husband took over my tv and made his sad face about those channels.

If you don't like a certain channel, just fix it to skip over it with your remote. I don't see why it's such a difficult concept.

 

[TuxThePenguin]

If you don't like a certain channel, just fix it to skip over it with your remote. I don't see why it's such a difficult concept.

Its just better to dictate to others what they should and shouldn't watch rather than taking personal responsibility. [/sarcasm]
Just ask Brent Bozell.

edit: spelling

 

[Sabina41]

I am taking part in the 30 Days TV Free Campaign right now- I haven't watched any TV since 8/1 and I'm loving it. I've gotten so much reading and other work done, it's been very rewarding. Plus it's given me time to think about the place of TV in my life and the programming I normally watch. Next week I'm calling the cable company to cancel my TV package. I don't watch much anyway- I can always go to a friends for the few shows I like and get good fellowship at the same time. It's been a wonderful decision for me.

 

[selfinflikted]

you know what i find personally disgusting on tv? jan crouch decked out with her pink wigs, tons and tons of jewelry, expensive clothes and accoutrements of wealth going to poor towns in haiti to showcase the clinic her ministry built. i'd like to ban that kind of self-important flash from tv. can i do that?

nah. i'll probably just turn the channel. like you can do. like we all can do.

No wait! There is SO MUCH comedic value in watchin Jan Crouch. I highly recommend this to ANYONE needing a good laugh. Seriously. I bust a gut each time I see that troll.

 

[katautumn]

I have mixed opinions on this issue. Being an adult, I don't think shows are inherently bad or inappropriate. As a parent of a four year old little boy who repeats everything he hears and mimmicks everything he sees, I have some concerns about what is on television during the day. It's been a long time since I was home during the day. My mother watched my son while I was at work. But now that I'm a SAHM, I am able to see what is on the prime networks during the day. Honestly, I'm really surprised that shows like "Jerry Springer" come on at a time of day when many children are up and about channel surfing. I saw a commercial yesterday morning for a new show about to premier called "Desire". This guy comes on and complains about how he's been seeing a woman for four months and she still hasn't had sex with him. And this wasn't on FX or Comedy Central or HBO. This was on the WB channel.

Fortunately, I know that on days when my son was at my mom's house, he wasn't watching television all day. He was doing productive things like helping clean, doing art projects, playing with mind-stimulating toys (like building blocks) and helping in the kitchen. At home, my son does not watch much TV. He enjoys "Spongebob Squarepants" and "Fairly Oddparents". Sometimes he likes to catch "Blues Clues". I've never allowed television to be his babysitter. During the day, the TV is rarely on. I don't think the problem is lack of quality television. I think the problem is parents who plop their kids down in front of the TV set and just walk away for hours and leave the kids to their own devices to find shows that will pacify them.

I know it's hard. Believe me. Try making a business related telephone call with a four year old in the room with you. But I'd rather have my son playing with his Legos or hanging around me than shoving him into his room and turning on the TV.

And I also believe that adults have a dependency upon television. It got so bad with my family for awhile that television sets were left on when no one was watching it, just to have the background noise. Finally my mother put her foot down. Now they rarely watch TV. At home, my husband and I are very selective about what we watch. We prefer educational shows on the Discovery Channel. Most of the time, the TV isn't even on. We like to play Scrabble or read.