If you’ve ever had a hard time articulating your objections to letting children watch TV, watch this. You’re now prepared!
Dimitri Christakis is a pediatrician, parent, and researcher whose influential findings are helping identify optimal media exposure for children.
Apr 22
I wish I recorded this. I cannot find it online anywhere! But even still, Teletoon will understand what I am talking about, and I sent this to every teletoon email address on their site.
It’s 9:49pm Friday April 22nd 2011 and I am sitting here with 3 kids watching Futurama, on Teletoon (ch45). Viewer discretion is advised for the program so Teletoon has met their legal obligations with respect to the program. Congrats, well done. But what I have not seen is a warning with regards the Teletoon promo spots they’re running, and that’s what I’m writing about.
A moment ago when the program ended and the commercial break began, the first promo to run before the commercials subliminally instructed the viewers to watch porn online.
The viewer discretion notice mentioned above stated that viewers should be over 14 years old. It would seem that someone in their programming department is completely retarded because porn is very obviously intended for, and marketed to, people over 18. That point should be enough right there, but it gets worse.
The Teletoon promo featured an excited narrator informing and instructing viewers about the Teletoon promo – the point of which was lost on me because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing at that moment. In addition to the voice there was animated text appearing and disappearing on the screen. When the narrator instructed viewers to go online the words “WATCHING PORN ONLINE” appeared in a sentence, in black text. Then the word porn was circled in red and crossed out.
As an adult I understand the potential message: “what I am saying is better than porn online, which is what you use the internet for anyways.” Or something to that effect. Or, I am completely wrong. Regardless, the text on the screen should not have appeared when the audience was expected to be at least 14 years old. In fact, considering Teletoon draws primarily youths, it should not have appeared at all.
Fortunately for me, the children who were with me did not pay any attention to it as far as I could determine. Had they noticed or asked me what that porn word was, I would be in a less than favourable situation because, how do you answer that without lying to them, yet satisfying the question to a point where they drop it right there?
No one can reason, to any intelligent person, that they honestly believe that’s the right message to display, or that they don’t think the kids are going to google that word.
We must come to the realization that there is a difference between Right and Wrong. It is obvious that society in North America has lost this understanding, and those remaining who respect it are not aggressive enough to give it traction.
Other:
Another parent with beef against Teletoon
How to contact Teletoon
I don’t host videos on Parents’ Place so please click this link to a short 5 minute video narrated by Esther Hicks Abraham where she talks about how we interact with other people in relationships, and why children do not want to do what we tell them.
It really is a great video.
Why Your Kids Don’t Do What You Tell Them
Video Source: www.abraham-hicks.com/
Exercise is just as important for kids as it is for adults, but unfortunately many children are emulating their parents and getting far less physical activity than they need to stay healthy.
Less than one-third of kids aged 6 to 17 get at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise a day, and the 2010 Shape of the Nation Report from the American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education actually recommends one hour of exercise a day for Americans of all ages.
Kids are clearly falling way short of this goal. The report states:
“The reality, of course, is that children and adolescents in the United States are primarily sedentary. Most kids under age 18 spend the majority of their day sitting in classrooms, and a big part of their free time outside of school watching television, playing video games or surfing the Internet.”
Too much sedentary time is one of the forces driving the child obesity epidemic. About one-third of U.S. children aged 2-19 years are now overweight or obese, and childhood diabetes has increased 10-fold in the last 20 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Almost half of kids spend at least two hours a day watching TV. While this may sound harmless enough, numerous studies have come out showing that TV is definitely taking its toll on American children.
For instance, a study in the April 2004 journal Pediatrics found that every added hour of watching TV increased a child’s odds of having attention problems at age 7 by about 10 percent. Those who watched for three hours a day between the ages of 1 and 3 were 30 percent more likely to have attention trouble at age 7 than those viewing no TV.
The notion that kids watch far too much TV is a no-brainer, literally. My strong recommendation is to minimize TV watching to no more than a few hours per WEEK, as a short attention span is only the beginning of the problem with TV. Here are some of the other negatives of kids watching TV: Read the rest of this entry »
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
1st February 2010
He’s not known for his sensitive approach on delicate issues.
But even Ricky Gervais may have overstepped the mark this time, with his irreverent comments on the subject of over-population.
The comedian – who does not have children – said ‘irresponsible’ parents should be sterilized.
Gervais, 48, said there were ‘too many unwanted children, too many people who are poor and struggling.’
He added: ‘If they all had a good quality of life, no one would complain. What there is, is too many useless people. Too many people who shouldn’t have children.’
Asked whether there should be a limitation then, he told the Sunday Times: ‘Yes, based on… stupid, fat faces. If there’s a woman in leggings, eating chips with a fag in her mouth, sterilize her.’
It was suggested that Gervais, who grew up on a council estate in Reading, was calling for ‘chavs’ to be sterilized.
But he insisted his views were not based purely on class.
‘I described an irresponsible parent. Chavs could be included in irresponsible though.’
He says he and his girlfriend of 27 years, Jane Fallon, 48, had discussed having children but decided against starting a family.
‘Too much hassle,’ he said.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 20
DO KIDS REALLY WANT LIMITS?
Source: ParentMagic Newsletter, Dec 2009
This idea that children really want limits isn’t completely true. It is true, of course, that in the long run youngsters are more comfortable in a house where parents have clear, reasonable rules and enforce them consistently and fairly. Under these circumstances the kids are better off whether or not they realize the connection between their parents’ behavior and their own well being. In such a home, in addition to feeling cozy, warm and comfortable, children are also developing the critical skill of frustration tolerance.
Frustration tolerance is the ability to put up with discomfort or pain now in order to achieve some more important future objective. It’s a beautiful evening and I would like to trash this math homework, but I’d also like to get at least a B in the course. I’d like to slug my brother, but I don’t want to upset my mother and be grounded. I’d like another piece of lemon meringue pie, but I don’t want to get fat. Successful adults learned high frustration tolerance (HFT) when they were kids.
Many unsuccessful adults, however, still show significant amounts of low frustration tolerance (LFT). They can’t wait, so they run the yellow light. They purchase three new, unnecessary DVDs when their credit card is already overloaded. They watch the new show on TV instead of going to the gym to workout. LFT may be one of the fastest routes to failure as an adult.
CHILDREN WANT WHAT THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT IT
Kids are just kids, so naturally they start out at the LFT point. At any one moment, children want what they want, and they can be angry and disappointed if they don’t get it. Kids do not welcome or enjoy adult‐imposed limits. As a result, youngsters’ frustration frequently leads to trouble with parents in the form of testing and manipulation.
But learning to tolerate—with a little parental assistance—both limits and frustration is a normal and necessary part of growing up. Over the years, most children learn and internalize three important lessons about frustration. First of all, not getting what you want is a regular occurrence in life; you will drive yourself crazy if you overreact to everything that goes wrong. Second, being frustrated is not the end of the world; the feeling always passes. And third, getting better and better at enduring as well as managing life’s disappointments PAYS BIG DIVIDENDS.
Keep that in mind next time you have to say “No” to your kids.
Dr. Mercola is the founder of the world's most visited natural health web site, Mercola.com. You can learn the hazardous side effects of OTC Remedies by getting a FREE copy of his latest special report The Dangers of Over the Counter Remedies by going to his Report Page.
