I can already see your face and can read your thoughts. "Oh boy. What's she worked up about now?" Let me tell you, everyone needs to get worked up about this issue. I was doing my daily Facebooking when I found a recommended link to a friend's blog (you can check it out here http://oldschoolparents.blogspot.com/). Please check it out as she gets into reviewing this type of thing to help you protect your children (you can also find her blog on my reading list over on the right side of the page). Her blog was about a new show called "Skins" on MTV. I don't know if you know anything about this show, but it is nothing but smut that is being offered to young adults everywhere. In fact, MTV says the show is doing great with their target audience of 12yr. -34 yr. The show glorifies what MTV is advertising as reality--the most horrible side of life--drugs, sex, alcohol, and all the other terrible things that our youth are being hit with today. The Parents Television Council describes the show on their site (in case you want to check it out yourself--http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/emailalerts/2011/0118.htm) in this manner:
"Skins not only featured dozens of instances of high-school children using foul language; it also contained depictions and descriptions of high-school children discussing and engaging in sex; high-school children discussing and engaging in the use of illegal drugs; high-school children discussing and engaging in the use of alcohol; high-school children stealing an automobile and then crashing it into a lake; and countless other descriptions and depictions of graphic, adult-themed activity."
Keep in mind, this show doesn't use adult actors. Their youngest actress is reported as being 15 years old. Someone please enlighten me on what kind of parents allow their children to be part of something like this? I don't think they have any right to be called parents at all for allowing their child to be exploited in such a manner (I bet all they see is dollar signs). Do these parents even realize the amount of child molesters who are probably avid watchers of the show already?
In all of this, MTV remains pretty smug about what they are doing. They basically brag that kids as young as 12 are watching (Yeah, I am going to keep mentioning this because where are those 12 year old's parents?). They maintain that they are not breaking any laws. "According to The New York Times (via MSNBC), Viacom executives met with the producers of Skins to discuss toning down upcoming episodes for fear of violating child pornography laws." (That came directly from http://www.okmagazine.com/2011/01/skins-loses-a-fifth-big-sponsor-subway/. Check that out if you want more info.) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY--now, how scary is that? MTV believes we are all dumb, deaf, and blind not to realize that this is the real world within the day-to-day life of teenagers. What about all the good kids I have taught over the years? Why aren't they making a show about the kids who have gone on to do great things? Why are we not glorifying kids who are making a difference in the world, who care more about others than about gratifying themselves? Why can't we portray that as the norm? IT DOESN'T SELL. MTV doesn't care about your kids. MTV doesn't care about making the world a better place. This show makes this agenda very clear.
I bet right now you are wondering what you can do. I am still researching that, but I have a few options that you can do right now that will make a difference.
1. E-mails: Send e-mails to those who advertise during the show and to MTV. They have lost seven sponsors as of what I can determine at this point--Taco Bell, GM, Subway, H & R Block (Why in the name of all that is good is H & R Block advertising on MTV anyways?), Schick, L'Oreal, and Wrigley. Now, don't get me wrong. They still advertise with other programming on MTV, but not with this show in particular. Foot Locker is one that continues to advertise during the show.
2. Inform Yourself: Research and know the issues surrounding this. Believe me, it's not pleasant and it angers me more and more. However, I realize that by knowing more, I can find more ways to fight this junk.
3. Talk: Talk to people--old and young alike. This is not just about shutting down smut, it's about opening a dialogue between people that will keep more of this stuff from invading the lives of our youth. It's about opening lines of communication so that our kids KNOW right from wrong.
4. Share: Share blogs like the one I gave above or this one with young and old.
5. PRAY: Become a prayer warrior for our youth. Our children are leaving the church in mass. We have got to pray for them. James 5:16 says, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Let's stand in the gap for our children and our future.
I am doing research to find out more about what I can do to help get junk like this off our televisions. As I have been doing research, I have found more shows that need to be taken off the air. I can list out several (Gossip Girl, Family Guy, etc) that I am now aware of that I will do my best to fight against in the next few weeks. Maybe you are wondering why....
THEY ARE THE REASON THAT I CARE SO MUCH. If you can look at these two little boys and not want a better future for them, then I am worried about you. I am doing everything I can to protect them from junk such as this. I will not let the world tell them what is "normal" or "acceptable." We wonder why girls give everything away at such a tender age...thank you MTV for helping push the idea that this is what everyone else is doing. We wonder why our young men don't know how to be gentlemen......thank you MTV for showing that it's a "reality" that boys don't know how to be anything but animals. Keep in mind, MTV is not alone in this fight for the hearts of your children. This is just one in many battles that I will have to fight. You better believe this momma is ready and willing to take on the world to prove to her boys that they have a "higher calling." I will teach them that being like the world is taking the easy way out. Compromise is easy....taking the higher road, the road that God intended for us--there is nothing more rewarding. Please help me in this fight. I am talking to you young adults. I am talking to you parents. I am talking to you grandparents. I am talking to you people who have no children. I am talking to you CHRISTIAN. We have been silent for too long and it's time we took a stand.
Very good blog, but sad that we even have to do things like this. I am 100 % behind you on this one. I have heard and read so much about this show this past weekend. It is sickening and so disturbing. I will be emailing etc and doing everything I can to get this show off the air.
ReplyDeleteThis made me cry because of the passion I heard in your voice and with pride that my son married such a girl.
ReplyDeleteThanks you so much for the compliment. If there is a battle, I am ready. Please share this!! And read Jill's blog too. I am so glad we got rid of our cable. This just gave me the reassurance I needed.
ReplyDeleteIt's sickening. Just reminds me why my parents were so strict about tv when I was growing up, & we didn't even have as much trash on tv back then! I was never allowed to watch MTV, & Lincoln won't be allowed to either.
ReplyDeleteJen, great blog. Getting rid of cable was the best thing we ever did as well. One thing that I would disagree with you on, however, is that the reason they do this type of stuff is because the good stories don't "sell." The good stuff does sell. Look at the box office receipts for movies like the Chronicles of Narnia, or for the ratings of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition." People eat the good stuff up. I think there's a more sinister force behind the crap that gets put on tv.
ReplyDeleteKayla--I think to some extent it does sell, but then you have the huge payouts for things like Saw, "Jersey Shore," (Enrique Iglesias actually paid those people to be in a music video--those people look like skankville just invaded!) and all that junk. It makes me wonder if it's just us old people who are watching the good stuff! But I think we can make a difference in what kids would watch even more if they changed the programming. Exactly Heidi! I remember all the stuff that I was not able to watch or listen to. I am so thankful for loving parents who taught me right from wrong.
ReplyDeleteI heard on FB that several PC students got together to watch the first show to see the hype and before it was over said it was "stupid". They didn't watch it again. I can't imagine that 20-30 would be into it but do worry about the much younger ones... I hope it gets pulled!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am so thankful they decided to not watch it again. The older ones that I would worry about are the typical child molesters that would eat something like this up. It seems to me that people would think about that at some point. It's like the freedom to watch kids engage in that kind of trash without getting in trouble. It makes my heart ache for those actors/actresses that aren't thinking about the result of their choice to be part of this. Well, please pray that it does get pulled and do what you can to help!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I totally agree about "Skins" when I saw the advertising about it on MTV I just shook my head.
ReplyDeleteI heard that an MTV exec said, "That is our goal to brainwash that age bracket."
They(MTV) is owned by the same company that owns VH1 and I was sad to here that cause I like VH1 at times, especially VH1 Classic.
Eric Bowman
For your information--from what I can tell there are still some advertisers who have not bailed yet: Foot Locker, Red Bull, Zeno Hot Spot, Celtrixa, and Comcast. Send a message to these sponsors that you won't support them if they support that!
ReplyDeleteWhile some people do go to see movies like Saw, clean movies generally beat the pants off of them. For example, the first Saw movie brought in $103 million in gross receipts, in 2004. That same year, Shrek 2 brought in $919 million. In general, the movies that really soar at the box office are generally family friendly. There of course are exceptions, but I think it's more that Hollywood is trying to change America's values, and that's why we see movies coming out that generally don't reflect American morals and values. I agree that the best thing we can do is vote with our dollars. Get rid of cable, until it changes for the better. Don't watch smutty shows. Don't support companies who advertise during said shows...Keep up the good fight!
ReplyDeleteI guess I should be more specific in the group I am talking about. It seems that in that age group that MTV is saying they target (12-34 yr. olds), they are more into the trash than the good stuff. For instance, the cleaner movies generally do better with those below and above that age group--even though I have known some that know better, they go because their friends go. Anyway, I think we need to hit them where it hurts--their profits.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Voting with your dollars is the best way to get their attention.
ReplyDelete