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Posts tagged ‘children’

Feb 28

Affects of TV on Kids

 

As a child, I spent a lot of my time watching television.  It was kind of a baby sitter because my mother was really sick when I was growing up.  My twin sister and I used to look forward to shows like Sesame Street or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .  We used our time watching television as a way to just stay out of trouble, and out of our parents hair, God knows they had more important things to deal with.  In Lynn Spigel’s, Welcome to the Dreamhouse, she quotes one of the first and most influential book-length studies of the affects of television and children, which reported “that by 1961 sixth graders spent almost as much time watching television as they did in school.” These numbers seem staggering, since parents now a days talk about how they used to spend all their time outside, and come down on kids these days because all they want to do is watch television or play video games.  In my opinion, kids now a days spend WAY too much time watching television or on the computer.  Kids are suppose to be outside running around, getting into trouble, and staying active. According to kidshealth.org, kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen and almost 2 additional hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games.  This is most likely contributing to the fact that childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, according to the Center of Disease Control.

The most important thing to remember is that it is the parents responsibility to limit the time kids spend watching television, and to dictate what their child is doing on a day to day basis.  If you’re kid isn’t active enough, take them outside and kick a soccer ball with them, or take them to the park.  When did it become not fun to go to the park?  When I was a kid I always missed out on that kind of stuff.

Feb 27

Technology in Today’s Toys

According to the article “Go Directly, Digitally to Jail? Classic Toys Learn New Clicks” (Stephanie Clifford, the New York Times, Feb. 25, 2012), retailers in the toy industry are beginning to modernize classic toys by integrating technology into them. Despite the fact that Barbie, Monopoly, and Hot Wheels have sold millions throughout past generations, retailers feel the need to modernize these classic toys. Monopoly can be played on a digital tablet that can count the money, taking away the pain of all the simple math. An iPad screen can now be used to watch Hot Wheels blaze across the track, as if imagination wasn’t enough. And Barbie? Oh, she just has as a camera embedded in her stomach, which allows children to take pictures and even transport the storage files (with the help of parents.)  The cause of these technological advancements is said to be a result of a disappointing 2011 for retailers, including Hasbro and Mattel, as children are wanting more tech-savvy toys, such as the LeapPad LeapFrog Explorer. John Alteio, director of toys and games for Amazon, says the reason kids want modernized toys is because they want to play with toys similar to the gadgets they see their parents using. While many toy retailers are beginning to modernize their toys, some critics think that the trend will soon fade away due to the high price of the toys compared to the toys that are cheaper because of the technology they do not possess.

This ties into our reading of Bradbury’s “The Veldt” focusing on technology taking over children. This is because children are beginning to lose their imagination as technology becomes more and more prominent in their lives. They are upset if they cannot have their tech-savvy toys, such as when the parents take away the technology from the kids in the short story. In order to steer our young generation in the right direction, retailers need to decrease the amount of technology in toys or, like in the story, a bad ending may be inevitable.

Video Girl Barbie

Feb 27

T.V. is Wack, T. V. is Cheap

Young children today are impressionable. They form habits based on what they see and hear others around them do or say. As Television and other media devices become more available to children, this means that they gather information from a wider variety of sources. Though, the information they gather from these sources may not be in the best interests of young children.

 

In my classmate’s post regarding the reading journal prompt “Kids and T.V.”, Morgan Manuel has found an article that expresses some of her mutual concerns about the negative effects television has on young children as they form habits in the early stages of their lives. Her main worries she shares with the author of the article are (1) that television conveys a message of violence toward young minds and can potentially be imitated, (2) the presence of sexual content exposed in certain television programs and (3) that children form unhealthy habits or become lazy as a direct result of watching too much television.

 

Morgan has connected her points to examples present in Ray Bradburry’s The Veldt in the course reading packet. She makes valid points about how the violence present in television today is related to the violent acts experienced in the futuristic house, the setting of Bradburry’s short story. Also, Morgan also points out the effects of laziness that television has on children when she connects the laziness and dependence on the nursery that has driven the children in the story to murder their parents to ensure the safety of their lazy ways. The children are disrespectful, defiant, and even harmful to their parents.  Although I could not find instances of sexual behavior blatantly expressed in the text, Bradburry explains that the electronic room in the story became a channel towards destructive thoughts for the children (167).

 

Here is a little anecdotal aside about Kids and T.V. courtesy of Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas.

Feb 27

Recess!

Recess! was an animated television series that told the stories of the lives of six elementary school children as they interacted with other children, teachers, and parents. TJ, Vince, Ashley, Gus, Gretchen, and Mikey, the six best friends that made up the base of the show, represented a wide variety of stereotypes. TJ was the typical All-American boy, Vince was the stereotyped super athletic African American kid, Ashley represented the punk look, Gus was the nerdy smart friend, Gretchen was the awkward gangly girl, and Mikey was the overweight but lovable funny kid. The show portrays the strict hierarchy and social order that exists in the whole 4th grade, including one child being “King Bob” and the stereotypical popular girls, “The Ashleys”. The first episode was aired in 1997 on ABC, and continued until 2001. After, reruns were played on the Disney Channel. I remember as an 8 year old waking up on Saturday mornings and hoping I wasn’t too late to watch my favorite Saturday morning cartoon, as we didn’t have cable and therefore didn’t have the Disney Channel to watch reruns on. In our course packet, Segel talks about the gender issues in childhood reading (67-78). Certain books are deemed “boy books” and others “girls books”. The same issue arises when children’s cartoons and TV shows lean too far towards one gender or the other. Kim Possible is a girl hero, so boys can’t like her! Recess mixed in an equal amount of gender roles into their show, making it a gender neutral production and good for acceptable sexes to like. However, it went further than that. Because the six main characters represented six vastly different stereotypes, a lot of kids could see themselves being like one of the main group (besides the gender differences). Usually a show wouldn’t focus around a normal African American boy who was really good at sports, but Recess had Vince in there to let to athletic kids feel a connection. The same stands for the rest of the characters. Recess didn’t show kids who had crazy superpowers or children who dealt with evil witches, it just had a group of normal fourth graders that every child could relate to. I believe it was so popular because every viewer could relate to their favorite character and the problems the group faced.

Recess Kids from Google Images

Feb 27

Are Celebrities Parenting Our Children?

Chris Brown and Rihanna at the 2012 Grammy's - Much controversy over Brown performing at Grammy's

Most often, when we hear people criticizing the entertainment world, they are usually accusing celebrities or certain TV shows for not “setting a good example” or being a negative influence in children’s lives. However, in an article I found on Huffington Post, Chidubem Nwabufo claims that the fault really lies with the parents. The writer wrote the article in response to all of the media attention centered on the controversial Chris Brown and Rihanna relationship. Apparently, there have been many Facebook and Twitter posts commenting on their new song together that have all been along the lines of, “What kind of message is this supposed to send to our children?” Nwabufo argues that the problem is not the example that the celebrities are setting, but rather, the problem is that the parents are now relying so heavily on letting celebrities set the example for their children in the first place.

I found it extremely interesting to find an article written from this point of view. Most of the articles we have read and discussed in class have been a critique of the entertainment world and the effects it has on American children. Nwabufo claims that the celebrities are just doing their job, and it is the parents’ jobs (not the celebrities’) to teach their children right from wrong. In response to the writer’s claims, I would argue that he is correct when he says that it is a parent’s job to teach their children what is or is not appropriate, but, nevertheless, the children are always going to idolize Hollywood stars no matter what their parents try to tell them. I don’t believe parents are relying on celebrities at all to set a good example, but there is no way to ignore the fact these stars ARE influencing the youth of America. In a perfect world, parents would do such a great job of teaching their children right from wrong that the children would know who is an appropriate role model.

Feb 27

This is All That

All That cast

One of my favorite TV shows growing up was All That. All That was a comedy sketch variety show that had musical performances by the “it” pop stars at the time. All That began in 1994 and continued until 2005. The show aired on Nickelodeon I think on Friday evenings. The show was created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The All That cast consisted of 7-8 adolescences some where around the ages of 12-15. All That was structured much the same way that SNL is structured. There is usually an opening skit followed by the intro, and then followed by different comedic sketches and finally closed with a musical performance. Most of the comedic sketches poked fun at current stereotypes or certain elements of pop culture. After listening to the Mad Magazine lecture in class it is quite apparent that programs like All That were heavily influenced by Mad Magazine. Mad Magazine was created in 1952 and offered a satirical look on culture, the media, the nuclear family and so forth. Mad Magazine paved the road for TV shows like Mad TV, All That, and SNL to exist. Whenever Mad Magazine came out parents were worried about how much it was influencing their children. Growing up I never had an issue with my parents not letting me watch All That because my parents thought it was funny themselves. When I was younger I never really thought too much about the sketches, but now that I am older some of the sketches could have influenced other children. One sketch that struck me as offensive was one in which Kenan Thompson and Nick Cannon played the stereotypical Black woman cashier. This sketch is filled with lots of stereotypes most of which portray Black women in a negative light. Being a children’s program this sketch can negatively influence and strengthen certain stereotypes children have of others.

Feb 26

Sophia Grace and Rosie Young Stars

Sophia Grace and Rosie in the Grammy Awards 2012

Huffpost Celebrity describes the recent experience of two British girls, 8 year old Sophia Grace Brownlee and 5 year old Rosie McClelland, in the Ellen DeGeneres show during their Grammy Awards 2012 red carpet debut. The young duo was invited to attend Ellen’s popular TV show to display their adventures as they interviewed celebrities at the 2012 Grammy’s.

The British duo started their public display with their YouTube video singing Nicki Minaj’s top chart song Super Bass. It was there Ellen’s team discovered the young sensation and invited them to Ellen’s show. After an appearance on Ellen’s show, Ellen was extremely impressed she sent them as her correspondents to the 2011 American Music Awards. Now, after obtaining more exposure through Ellen at the 2012 Grammy Awards the girls state they are becoming pros at red carpet events and interviewing.

These young girls are being exposed to the adult media culture at a very fast rate. Critics wonder how the events they attend and the content of lyrics they sing may influence the girls childhood. As Lynn Spigel wrote “Television’s immediate availability in the home threatened to abolish childhood by giving children equal access to the ideas and values circulated in the adult culture” (Pg 150). In the Ellen show the girls stated they learned the lyrics to Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass song in under a week , yet do not know what the song is really about. During the Super Bass performance Sophia Grace is caught singing “he cold, he dope, he might sell coke” and “He just gotta give me that look, when he give me that look then the panties comin’ off, off”. Conflict arises questioning if the girls performance displays the parents lack of character in raising their daughters or supports an impressive talent which Sophia Grace and Rosie as potential superstars in the making. Whatever the conclusion is, we can all agree the young duo has an amazing career in the entertainment industry and we will be seeing a lot of more of them.

Sophia Grace and Rosie Performing “Moment 4 Life”

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