Dumb and Dumber
Random topics recently overheard as my kids watch t.v.: An asteroid is enroute to Earth and it will destroy the planet unless the Wizards of Waverly Place can use their magic to avert it. Someone’s babysitter is a vampire and somehow a bunch of teens turn into dolls. Some cartoon characters get lost in a cave and one of them turns into a bat and terrorizes the rest of them. And would you believe that the kids on A.N.T. Farm are also facing an impending asteroid? My husband and I have a saying: “Well, I think we’re all a little bit dumber after watching that.” Dumber, maybe—but worse off? It’s the $10,000 question of the media generation: Does t.v. have a harmful effect on kids?
My immediate response is no—and yes, I realize some of my friends will not approve. I mean, my kids have watched hours upon hours of t.v., and they seem to be doing ok. They do well in school. They are pretty good kids. But—I firmly believe t.v. does affect them. I’m just not sure about the greater implications of it, the long term results. I don’t know for sure that it’s bad for them. Also, I don’t think t.v. stands alone. There are plenty of books, movies, games, and peers to introduce kids to the “dark side.” Have you ever heard of something called “The Exorcist Maze game?” Most third graders have. It’s basically an online game that pranks the user by inserting a pop-up of Exorcist girl’s face right in the middle of the game. The responses of these poor unsuspecting gamers are so intense and (apparently) so hysterically funny, that entire YouTube videos have been devoted to featuring the shots, one after the other. In one of them, a kid about five years old gets so upset he starts crying, which broke my heart. Who would show this to a little kid?
(Sidebar: The same people who would insert these kinds of things into any video on YouTube. If your child likes to search for Nerf War videos and things like this, just be on the alert for this sort of thing – read the comment sections before you let your child watch).
Our kids are exposed to graphic, larger-than-life images, some of which would scare the flip flops off my generation and make those Wizard of Oz
monkeys look like Zhu Zhu pets. Where do we draw the line between fun fantasy and just plain creepiness? How worrisome are these shows?
A news story surfaced recently about a 19 year old Texas man who, claiming to be a 500 year old vampire, broke into a random woman’s home and attempted to bite her neck. As expected, the media discussions turned to the vampire fad of recent years, particularly the Twilight series, and how it has effected today’s youth. No concrete evidence was presented that proved this individual had ever read or been exposed to any specific piece of literature or film, and yet, the media made the connection for us by conveniently bringing up the subject immediately following the report of the crime.
In my opinion, a vampire movie is not going to create a would-be vampire, unless said vampire is already a little psycho. When someone is messed up, he will find an outlet for that, some way to get his frustrations or troubles outside of himself—thus, we have serial killers, uni-bombers, and vampire wannabes. Not to make light of serious crimes, but my point is this: The world has a plentiful supply of wackos already. I don’t think Twilight is going to create more of them.
Back in the day, I would jump off the bus after school, race down my driveway, and plant myself infront of the t.v. just in time to catch The Brady Bunch. You remember those days—when the most pressing problems weren’t vampires or asteroids, but Marsha getting hit in the nose with a football and Jan wearing a big black wig because she wanted to upstage her sister at the party. When the tarantula got into the beach bag in Hawaii, a collective gasp was heard from grade school kids all across America. Oh the drama!
I guess what bothers me more than anything about kids programming today is that most of it really is just plain dumb–and dumber. We have teens landing on an asteroid in a toy spaceship, another gang that lives and goes to school on a cruise ship. These shows do absolutely nothing to prepare kids for the real world. At least the Bradys faced somewhat realistic problems. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I knew exactly what to do if I ever lost my mom’s earrings in the drain.
