Kids TV shows

Is anyone else here disgusted at how many TV shows are aimed at kids. Like the NickolodeanJr channel or boobahs or teletubies. Theres so much shows for kids that the TV becomes like an addiction. Kids that have no other stimulants, like someone to play with, will have to get it from the glow of a TV screen.

Which leads me to my second point. Commercials. Many commercials today have THe SUper EXtreme GI JOE or The pretty pretty hip hop cool Bratz. Are these commercials turning our future into a debt ridden consumerist country.

Its not the shows- its the parents letting their kids slob out infront of the tv. I used to play all the time when i was a kid- tv computers never came into it.

Parents need to pay more attention to what their child is watching and in what quantities they are watching it in!!!!

It's all about conditioning. To illustrate this point at its most basic level, Guns for boys, Dolls for girls. When children are exposed to a concept at an early age, it becomes acceptable. Violence, sexuality, even acceptance of the violations of basic rights are good examples of concepts which are introduced to children in public education and society at large. The process here is loosely referred to as socialization, but the implications of this process are far darker than the term would tend to imply. Cameras on school buses are common now, where a few years ago, somebody would have raised some serious privacy issues with that, now, it is acceptable because our children are told that it is for their safety. Just to give an example, as a child my friends and I would run around the woods behind my house with our toy guns, some of us would be the 'russians' or the bad guys, wile some of us (usually the more popular kids) would be the US, or the good guys. Now kids run around in the same patch of woods with their toy guns, the bad guys are now muslims. Propoganda isn't just in regards to political issues, it can be used to manipulate not only public opinion, but also public morality.

Originally posted by Vegemite
Are these commercials turning our future into a debt ridden consumerist country.

Aren't we already a debt ridden consumerist country?

A capitalist based society has to continually create new markets for it's consumer goods. Or create new goods for it's market.
Children are the future consumers.
Commercials and TV shows/movies (most of them are nothing but commercials themselves) are used to condition children to become consumer slaves.
Capitalism is a cold, uncaring, unfeeling system that sucks the life out of society and forces everybody to focus on material possessions to the detriment of true love and happiness.
We don't live to love and help our neighbors, we live to compete with them.
Capitalism creates poverty, hunger, war, hate, crime, disease, death.
Children are taught to chase the proverbial carrot as society moves on like a juggernaut riding rough shod over those that can't or won't keep up.

Also as twitchy pointed out, children are conditioned to except war/violence as a way to solve problems.
School/kids educational TV shows are also there to teach kids to be competitive, capitalism requires competition.

"Babylon hates it when anyone actually enjoys life, rather than merely spends money in a vain attempt to buy the illusion of enjoyment. Dissipation, gluttony, bulimic overconsumption -- these are not only legal but mandatory.
If you don't waste yourself on the emptiness of commodities, you are obviously queer and must by definition be breaking some law.
True pleasure in this society is more dangerous than bank robbery.
At least bank robbers share Massa's respect for Massa's money."

Hakim Bey

Many childrens shows now are educational, whereas the shows when I grew up, like Scooby Do, Bugs Bunny, etc. weren't. There is nothing wrong with T.V. shows aimed at children as long as the parents aren't using the T.V. as a babysitter. Unfortunatly many parents ARE using the TV as a babysitter. That is where the problem lies.

The commercials are out of control. I don't think there is any solution to that other than keeping your children away from the TV!

Jemison

When I was growing up in the 70's, the ONLY day I had to watch cartoons was saturday, which was affectionitly know as "cartoon day" in my house. Now I have digital cable, and with that, I have about 8 channels that are nothing but cartoons 24-7, and about 4 more channels with kid oriented programming. The thing you have to remember is the money in advertising. Children were not thought of as a viable money maker in the 70's and 80's. That all changed in the 90's. Advertisers started seeing children as a viable way to make more money. With that came the TV channels. ITs all about the money.

I do agree that the parents are responsible for the childrens TV consumption. It is up to us (Im a parent) to get our kids off the couch and in to the grass. You can babysit your kids with the Boob Tube if you want, but you only end up with a boob for a kid Even though we have so many cartoon channels, My daughter gets to watch very little TV during the week. We still carry on the tradition of Cartoon Day on saturday in my house. My daughter and I get up at 6:00am and start with the Pink Panther, Then we go to Bugs bunny, Then some Powerpuff girls, and we top it all off with a heaping helping of Scooby Doo (The old shows) It is a good time for my daughter and I to just spend some good fun snuggly time together As a father, its the time spent with my daughter that makes it worthwhile for me, even if its the cartoons that keeps her attention

[edit on 10/20/04 by Kidfinger]

Kidfinger, that's awesome that you are WITH your daughter while she's watching cartoons and sharing bonding time. A child watching TV in the arms of a parent is a much different experience than a child sitting alone in the livingroom being ignored and being made to feel as if the parent can't be bothered to deal with him or her.

I think I have the opposite problem of most Americans. 3 of my 4 children won't watch T.V. at all. I have found myself in situations where I actually BEG them to please watch T.V. for a few minutes so that I can deal with an emergency or get something important done. They refuse! Of course my oldest child would do nothing BUT watch TV and play video games if I let her. Thankfully most of the shows now have CD's you can buy with the music from the shows on them. Those have been a life saver for me and I guess I shouldn't complain too much about the fact that my TV is generally off but all the stereos in my home are generally in use blasting the best of Barney, Disney, Powerpuff Girls (you might want to pick that up for your daughter Kidfinger, pretty good CD!), etc.

Jemison

Firstly after school TV is the free state-sponsored child-care service.

But i'd rather have my kid (dont have any thank god) watching nickelodeon with shows like spongebob and the wild thornberries (shows i watch myself as a 29 yr old) instead of watching fox-kids wich is loaded with metabots and collect-a-whatsit or pester-your-olds-till they-buy shows that is pumping their heads full of war-mongering spend-all-you wnat consumerism.

Edit spelling

[edit on 20/10/2004 by Corinthas]

Originally posted by Jemison
all the stereos in my home are generally in use blasting the best of Barney, Disney, Powerpuff Girls (you might want to pick that up for your daughter Kidfinger, pretty good CD!), etc.

Jemison

Thank You Jemison

We already have every cd you mentioned and then some My little girl is a BIG music lover.

Exactley, Kids that watch tv see all the "cool" 15 year oldsplaying with the new Yu-Gay-o cards and think subconsciously that if they had these cards they would be cool. I remember when pokemon and beanie babies and furbys came out when I was younger I must have spent all the money I saved since I was 6 on those dang pokemon cards. And I was too young to know how to play the game. It got so bad my elementary school banned the trading of cards. I eventually sold my $200 dollars worth of cards for 20 bucks.

Luckely for me I managed to escape into adolecence and ATS before Yu'gi-oh hit.

hey! yugioh is fun and i dont copy those so called cooler 15 year olds....and i work for the money to get those cards so blah.......cartoons are for entertainment!......it can be used during winter time because its cold outside and you wouldnt wanna play in the cold because then youd get sick and have to stay home anyways and feel sick at the same time

anyways the TV has no effect on me....i am myself and the TV cannot change that because its a box with wires that have pretty colors and a pick peice of glass.

Originally posted by twitchy
It's all about conditioning. To illustrate this point at its most basic level, Guns for boys, Dolls for girls...

Well, many studies have been done over the years by psychologists on this issue. It turns out that, in fact, boys have a natural inclination for symbols of power, order, and authority, and girls have a natural inclination for symbols of empathy, cooperation, and emotion. It's neither good nor bad; it's just human nature, a genetic predisposition.

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
Well, many studies have been done over the years by psychologists on this issue. It turns out that, in fact, boys have a natural inclination for symbols of power, order, and authority, and girls have a natural inclination for symbols of empathy, cooperation, and emotion. It's neither good nor bad; it's just human nature, a genetic predisposition.

I have read probably an equal number of studies that have indicated this process is brought about through socialization. The tendancies of either gender is produced primarily realy on by mimicking behaviors. In studies where these roles were reversed, the opposite is often portrayed. There are cultures through history, while rare, have demonstrated this principle as well. No doubt there are geneticly inclined behavioral assosciations, the principle contributions to behvaioral patterns are generally conditions through environmental factors.

My kids are forced to go outside and play after school. They beg me to let them watch tv. In the summer its too hot out, in the winter it's too cold old. UGH!

LOL, they get tv time after dinner if all of their homework is done, period. In the morning on weekends they get to watch tv till breakfast, after 10am, they are out till lunch. After lunch outside some more

We live on 50 acres so they are going to use every single acre!

My oldest is now learning to ride the lawnmower, I think it's time he learned to cut the grass!

Lacking imagination almost completely, I see this issue under another point of view. It's just plain old advertising: no mind-control scheme at all. As you already remarked, the situation changed radically in the '90s: before that we surely had advertising aimed at the kids (the brand new doll, or the super-cool cereals), but nothing in the proportions seen nowadays. Kids are litteraly BOMBED into asking their parents to buy the latest products: it's the sheer quantity of advertising which wins the day, not a cool presentation or an intriguing ad. If you don't believe me, just sit on the couch and watch the TV. Even worse, nowaday we have TV shows (or cartoons, for all that matters) created not to gain audience, but to promote a particular product, be it a robot, a doll or whatever. If you look at them from an adult's point of view they are horrible (no plot, poor animations, etc), but from a child's point of view they are cool and stimulate emulation (through the purchase of tacky, overpriced merchandise). When I first saw Demolition Man (starring Sylvester Stallone) I laughed at the sight of people listening at advertising jiggles instead of music. Now i am not laughing anymore.

Originally posted by deeprivergal
My oldest is now learning to ride the lawnmower, I think it's time he learned to cut the grass!

LOL, Thats how they GOT me, when I was a kid...
Hey kid (not my real name), wanna learn how to drive?
COOL! yeah!
OK, get on the little green Tractor and trace out grid patterns in the grass.

Originally posted by ThunderCloud
Well, many studies have been done over the years by psychologists on this issue. It turns out that, in fact, boys have a natural inclination for symbols of power, order, and authority, and girls have a natural inclination for symbols of empathy, cooperation, and emotion. It's neither good nor bad; it's just human nature, a genetic predisposition.

I have a really hard time believing that. Personally, I don't subscribe to the theory of essentialism, and can't see boys or girls having genetic predispositions to the above mentioned things. Of course, you have to keep in mind, that when something is taken as natural it's harder to question and many people believe there are essential differences between women and men with regard to emotion, etc.

The things you mentioned, in my opinion, are most a result of socialization and are learned behaviour, and it becomes second nature, with us never truly knowing our first nature (oursevles prior to social exposure and conditioning), .

My little boy won't sit still long enough to watch TV. I got him a couple of Bob the Builder DVDs (I like Bob--that show's pretty cool IMO ). He'll stick around long enough to watch the opening song, then he's off doing something else.

He's almost 3 and I'm glad he's not a couch potato!

Sorry if this has been mentioned.

When I watch one of the kids programs like Spongebob and have the volume about mid point, as soon as the Adverts come on they are so loud that I have to turn down the volume until the program starts again.
Talk about in your face (and ears).

I haven't got a problem with kids shows, I only wish that:

1) They ban advertising during kids shows
2) They ban R rated programs on other channels at the same time (this is just fu ( k ed). I actually had this fixed in oz by complaining to the ABA
3) They tone done on their use of "programming", if you know what I mean
4) When they do "dress up", the man dresses as the man and the woman dresses as the woman, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! This, I'm REALLY mad about. All this "equal opportunity" BS is getting beyond a joke.

[edit on 13-11-2004 by astoreth]