What you should know about what your kids watch

[asterix404]

I read an article in my news papper the other day and I just had to talk about it. Apparently there are groups of people who are finding that tv is getting to racy and far too sexual and there are far too many adult themes and something about swearing. Fuck I don't know... find it ironic... NOW damn you.

Now these people got me in a fuss. I love sex... I love everything about sex, I think it's about as wonderful and I can have in this planet and gosh darn it I love watching people having sex. Apparently I am missing something and am the minority. This is weird since people are having kids every day. But I digress... something about “indecentcy experts” were complaining that tv... esp cable and satellite were getting too racy. These people want even stricter fines imposed by the government for things that are just not “right”.

Possibly my favorite quote was this: “Sure parents can have control over the shows that their children watches with parental controls and even block channels that they don't want to have come into their homes. But why should they have to?”

This quote got me rolling the floors of the train I was riding on. What more could tv people do? Seriously... they don't make the shows... people watch whats on and don't really complain... shows are strictly based on ratings so if some show isn't being watched they will drop it faster then a cheating girl friend.

My gripe about this of course is that this means time is being taken away from important things like winning the war... and people dieing and how to clean your toes with a tooth brush. Legislation is actually listening to this and I figured yall may want to know about it.

[jt1012751]

Yeh, people over do these things all the time. Remember the Superbowl in '03. Pats Panthers by a last second feild goal? No, but you remember the fuss that was made after Janet Jackson took her top off. These are just people with to much time on their hands looking for trouble.

[Chris]

Quote by: asterix404 Possibly my favorite quote was this: “Sure parents can have control over the shows that their children watches with parental controls and even block channels that they don't want to have come into their homes. But why should they have to?”

Who said that?

Sounds like something a religious zealot would say.

[syracusa]

I wish the sex and swearing "problems" were the only things bad about TV and kids.
If this was so, then I might not even object that much to my kids watching TV, because I would be able to explain to them what's with sex and what profanity is - and then everyone would be enlightened and happy about it.

My issues with TV is that it imbecilizes kids - not because of sex and swearing but simply because it exists as a box to be watched constantly. Studies after studies show that TV is the atomic bomb of any child's education, creativity, imagination and intellect. For better or for worse, whether your child watches "Baby Einstein" or sex and swearing - the TV will make them stupider, hands down.

So as far as I am concerned, a child should not watch TV at all, other than maybe a scheduled age-appropriate movie or cartoon in the week-end, once in a while; and even that should not be done without an adult's company - not to defend them from "immoral" images but simply to stimulate their intellect in regards to what they are watching: to make comments, to ask them questions, to debate, to question, etc.

Beyond that, there should be NO TV for kids period. There are way too many books to read, way too many classics to cover, way too many things to learn outside of TV.
Most American kids and youth act so idiotically exactly because they have been raised on TV. And it shows.

[CoffeeSaint]

Amen. You would be amazed, those of you who don't have kids of your own, how quickly the average teenager gets bored with things that are not TV or the internet. I have lost my students' attention before they even come into my classroom, because how can I compete with Real TV, the Chappelle Show, Maximum Exposure, and Jackass? Who would rather read a poem about love, when you can watch a video of someone in intense, unbelieveable pain? Not this generation, I'll tell you that.
The best thing that could have happened to me, personally, was moving out of my mother's house when I went to college, into a place that didn't have a decent TV. It meant that, for my first year in college, I actually studied, and then after that, I had broken my TV habit. Because in high school? Ten hours a day, on school days. And you better believe I'm stupider now than I would have been without that.

I don't think it matters what kids watch, so much as how much they watch. The bad part of this is when it takes over for everything else, like reading, as Syracusa said. Seeing violence on tv, or sex, or profanity, is nothing compared to turning into a human vegetable after sixteen hours of Cartoon Planet. Almost any "bad" program can be handled if the child can think about what they saw, and listen to another voice, such as a parent's. But when there is no voice but TV, and the child can't think about anything that isn't in moving pictures on the Fun Box, then everything becomes dangerous.

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: syracusa Beyond that, there should be NO TV for kids period. There are way too many books to read, way too many classics to cover, way too many things to learn outside of TV.

That stuff is boring.

[jt1012751]

TV is a great source of information. How many of us have sat down and watched the news, or something educational. Im sure that sex and drugs are not the best educational programs, but they are more intresting than reading most poetry. Actully make that, reading all poetry other than Poe, but thats just my opinion.

[Matt W]

That stuff is boring.

In your opinion. Got anything to add?

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: jt1012751 TV is a great source of information. How many of us have sat down and watched the news, or something educational. Im sure that sex and drugs are not the best educational programs, but they are more intresting than reading most poetry. Actully make that, reading all poetry other than Poe, but thats just my opinion.

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 That stuff is boring.

Thus spake the TV generation. Thank you for proving my point about teenagers gettng bored within nanoseconds by anything other than TV.

TV is not a great source of information because 90% of programming doesn't make you think, and it doesn't make you do anything directly. If you don't think, and you don't act, you don't learn. Tell me something you learned only from a TV show you watched, say, three years ago.

[Athena]

Quote by: asterix404 I read an article in my news papper the other day and I just had to talk about it. Apparently there are groups of people who are finding that tv is getting to racy and far too sexual and there are far too many adult themes and something about swearing. Fuck I don't know... find it ironic... NOW damn you. Now these people got me in a fuss. I love sex... I love everything about sex, I think it's about as wonderful and I can have in this planet and gosh darn it I love watching people having sex. Apparently I am missing something and am the minority. This is weird since people are having kids every day. But I digress... something about “indecentcy experts” were complaining that tv... esp cable and satellite were getting too racy. These people want even stricter fines imposed by the government for things that are just not “right”. Possibly my favorite quote was this: “Sure parents can have control over the shows that their children watches with parental controls and even block channels that they don't want to have come into their homes. But why should they have to?” This quote got me rolling the floors of the train I was riding on. What more could tv people do? Seriously... they don't make the shows... people watch whats on and don't really complain... shows are strictly based on ratings so if some show isn't being watched they will drop it faster then a cheating girl friend. My gripe about this of course is that this means time is being taken away from important things like winning the war... and people dieing and how to clean your toes with a tooth brush. Legislation is actually listening to this and I figured yall may want to know about it.

I had a devil of time figuring out what that had to do with new watches popular for kids.
I thought you were leading up to, they could watch porn on their new watches. Sort of like
an ipod for for porn thing.

Although you enjoy sex, I am decidedly against causual sex and that includes public displays of sexuality. But then, I also am opposed to immoral media in general and that would include most popular TV programming. This stuff sets our cultural moral standard, and right now that is way too low.

[Athena]

Quote by: jt1012751 TV is a great source of information. How many of us have sat down and watched the news, or something educational. Im sure that sex and drugs are not the best educational programs, but they are more intresting than reading most poetry. Actully make that, reading all poetry other than Poe, but thats just my opinion.

My favorite channel is the Public Broadcasting Channel. If could have a dish and choose my own programming, it would be the Discovery Channels and the Civilizations channel.
I don't want to pay for the junk on cable TV.

I don't like poetry either, but love science, history, philosophy, and wish more people did, because then they would be more interesting.

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: Matt W In your opinion. Got anything to add?

My opinion is the generally accepted one.

Therefore, my opinion is the one we'll be using.

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: CoffeeSaint Thus spake the TV generation. Thank you for proving my point about teenagers gettng bored within nanoseconds by anything other than TV.

Incorrect.

The computer is infinitely more interesting to me than TV and most other teenagers.

TV is not a great source of information because 90% of programming doesn't make you think, and it doesn't make you do anything directly. If you don't think, and you don't act, you don't learn. Tell me something you learned only from a TV show you watched, say, three years ago.

If that's true, then why do teachers show video in class? It's not like they show 1 or 2 a semester, it's more like 5 or 6 or more depending on what class it is.


And for Christs sake, why the hell do you want us to be thinking all the time? People think all day long at their jobs and their daily life. When they come home they want to sit on the couch with a drink and be entertained without having to think. What the hell is wrong with that?!

[jt1012751]

Quote by: Athena the Discovery Channels and the Civilizations channel.

These channles do not post the crap that other channels do. I would much rather watch somthing on one of these channels then something on MTV. Although I would have to have ESPN for sports news.

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 Incorrect. The computer is infinitely more interesting to me than TV and most other teenagers. If that's true, then why do teachers show video in class? It's not like they show 1 or 2 a semester, it's more like 5 or 6 or more depending on what class it is. And for Christs sake, why the hell do you want us to be thinking all the time? People think all day long at their jobs and their daily life. When they come home they want to sit on the couch with a drink and be entertained without having to think. What the hell is wrong with that?!

Look back at my first post, and I included the internet. I apologize for taking it out when referring to you here. Teachers show videos in class because it's easy. For myself, I show videos in only one situation -- no, two, sorry. The first is, if I am teaching drama (I'm an English teacher), because I believe plays should be seen, and unless my school's drama department happens to be doing the play I'm teaching, a video is all I have. The only other videos I show are Simpsons episodes, because the Simpsons have made references to half of the standard literary canon. Besides, the Simpsons is the best show ever.

I have no problem with people watching TV to relax. I watch TV to relax. I have a problem with kids watching TV to relax, because they don't think, not most of the time, so why do they need to relax? Adults don't think all day long either, not at most jobs, but they have their own lives to lead; I'm concerned with kids because I teach them, and because they need at least the ability to learn and think, and TV doesn't teach that. Reading does. Reading poetry, especially, but then, to each their own.

[tman_ndsu08]

Everyone has their own style of thinkng and I would encourage everyone to develop that style independant of any teachers influence.

Just because someone thinks that you're supposed to think a certain way definately doesn't mean you should.

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 Everyone has their own style of thinkng and I would encourage everyone to develop that style independant of any teachers influence. Just because someone thinks that you're supposed to think a certain way definately doesn't mean you should.

And yet:

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 My opinion is the generally accepted one. Therefore, my opinion is the one we'll be using.

TV doesn't make the watcher think at all; it presents all the information in a neat little package, with no effort required from the viewer. People may choose to think about what they watch, but that is irrelevant, as it is choice. I don't care how people think or what they think, just that they do. Therefore I would encourage people to read instead of watching television.

[Athena]

Quote by: CoffeeSaint Look back at my first post, and I included the internet. I apologize for taking it out when referring to you here. Teachers show videos in class because it's easy. For myself, I show videos in only one situation -- no, two, sorry. The first is, if I am teaching drama (I'm an English teacher), because I believe plays should be seen, and unless my school's drama department happens to be doing the play I'm teaching, a video is all I have. The only other videos I show are Simpsons episodes, because the Simpsons have made references to half of the standard literary canon. Besides, the Simpsons is the best show ever. I have no problem with people watching TV to relax. I watch TV to relax. I have a problem with kids watching TV to relax, because they don't think, not most of the time, so why do they need to relax? Adults don't think all day long either, not at most jobs, but they have their own lives to lead; I'm concerned with kids because I teach them, and because they need at least the ability to learn and think, and TV doesn't teach that. Reading does. Reading poetry, especially, but then, to each their own.

What a rotten opinion of kids. I can't think of a time when I wasn't thinking. But how would teachers know students are thinking, when they are trying so hard to cram stuff in a students head, instead of making it safe for a student to express what is going on in his/her head? I have listened to young people debate and give speeches, and their thinking was very impressive. But who cares? How many times do debates and speech contest get the news coverage of a foot ball game? I suspect we don't see a lot thinking young people, because we have made it uncool to be one.

How could you think young people do not need to relax anyway? The teen years are very stressful years. A lot of teenagers stay in their rooms doing nothing but avoid the stress of their lives, as best they can. There are many issues that are very important to them, but the chances are good they are not going to talk about them, because they are personal. In the past, book sets for young people, had a book about heros, a book about myths, and book of inspiring stories about young people. These were choosen for the purpose of helping young people transition to adulthood. It seems today, the wisdom of the past is lost. Too often we push adult stuff on them with the expectation they find meaning or some value in it. How many times have students been the ones to make up the reading list and explain why a book is a good book? Am I wrong, or aren't adults making the decisions for reasons other than the reasoning of a young person? And hey, mythology is a great way of learning about history, but I don't think high school teachers know enough about myths to know this. In the stories of myths are real historical facts. My grandson who enjoys myths is getting PBS vidoes about myths and history for Christmas.

Secondly, documentaries are my idea of relaxing. Most the stuff on TV just doesn't hold my interest and if it doesn't hold my interest, it is just irrating noise. On the other hand I have watched my copy of the The Sun Dagger video several times, because I enjoy the frame of mind it puts me in. It is about an ancient celestial calendar in the Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. It is really annoying to me to want to relax with a good show, and find none of TV. But then, no one wants to watch these shows with me, so maybe I different?

[syracusa]

Quote by: tman_ndsu08 That stuff is boring.

If you're serious...you are the embodiment of my absolute nightmare: the one that has to do with my child growing up surrounded by people like you, getting influenced by them and becoming the typical idiotic schmuck I see all the time in this country . A schmuck that never has anything interesting to say besides what he owns in terms of gadgets, what he bought recently or how big is the house he lives in.

Despite your "laissez-faire" spirit - I will say this: people with your attitudes are poisonous; and I pray, I pray to God every night and day that I will be able to protect my child from such insipid minds, such dangerous attitudes and such eternal condamnation to stupidity.

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: Athena What a rotten opinion of kids. I can't think of a time when I wasn't thinking. But how would teachers know students are thinking, when they are trying so hard to cram stuff in a students head, instead of making it safe for a student to express what is going on in his/her head? I have listened to young people debate and give speeches, and their thinking was very impressive. But who cares? How many times do debates and speech contest get the news coverage of a foot ball game? I suspect we don't see a lot thinking young people, because we have made it uncool to be one. How could you think young people do not need to relax anyway? The teen years are very stressful years. A lot of teenagers stay in their rooms doing nothing but avoid the stress of their lives, as best they can. There are many issues that are very important to them, but the chances are good they are not going to talk about them, because they are personal. In the past, book sets for young people, had a book about heros, a book about myths, and book of inspiring stories about young people. These were choosen for the purpose of helping young people transition to adulthood. It seems today, the wisdom of the past is lost. Too often we push adult stuff on them with the expectation they find meaning or some value in it. How many times have students been the ones to make up the reading list and explain why a book is a good book? Am I wrong, or aren't adults making the decisions for reasons other than the reasoning of a young person? And hey, mythology is a great way of learning about history, but I don't think high school teachers know enough about myths to know this. In the stories of myths are real historical facts. My grandson who enjoys myths is getting PBS vidoes about myths and history for Christmas. Secondly, documentaries are my idea of relaxing. Most the stuff on TV just doesn't hold my interest and if it doesn't hold my interest, it is just irrating noise. On the other hand I have watched my copy of the The Sun Dagger video several times, because I enjoy the frame of mind it puts me in. It is about an ancient celestial calendar in the Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. It is really annoying to me to want to relax with a good show, and find none of TV. But then, no one wants to watch these shows with me, so maybe I different?

I don't have a rotten opinion of kids. I have a rotten opinion of the world we have created for kids. I do not believe that kids have an easy life, but I sure as heck think that we make kids believe they have a much harder life than they actually do. They have a sad life, and an uncomfortable life; they don't have a hard life. i think there's a difference.

I say kids don't think because that's what they show me. On some occasions, I am pleasantly surprised, but not often. I believe very strongly that all kids can think; I also see that they don't. I try to challenge them to think; I think an aggressive challenge actually works much better than saying, "It's okay, I know you have a hard life. you just go ahead and play Halo for ten hours; you can think tomorrow."

And while I make students read some books, because most kids would never choose to read "To Kill a Mockingbird," a book that's worth reading, I do let them choose their own books as often as possible. Even silly ones, and bad ones. My only rule is that they can't read a book that has a movie, because guess what they do? They take the easy way, the way that doesn't require any thinking: they watch TV.

I like TV too. But TV doesn't replace thinking for me; it does, for most teens today. Not all, no -- but most.