IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
#186
May 19, 2014
“Limits”
As a country music fan, I have enjoyed the series “Austin City Limits” over the years. Good music with a great “beat” and clean lyrics is more than fun for me — it is refreshing. When taking a close look at major network programming these days, I recoil and take heart that I am not monitoring the content for children. I would not want that job.
Egad! Current “sit com” plots are base in nature and feature more sexual content than I ever saw as a young married person, let alone a teenager or a child. Racy then is considered mundane now. It’s as if each producer tries to outdo the competition. Whether the programs feature human actors or were presented as cartoons, the content is more than I would have wanted for my sons when they were children.
Consider the boy or girl with little or no supervision in the home. What of the child living in a home sans a father? If there is no limit to what a child can witness, there is no limit to the damage done to his or her psyche. After all, if the old saying, “Monkey see, monkey do” holds, the risk is more than clear. It is absolutely chilling.
In my opinion, people of my parents’ generation are rolling over in their graves when it comes to the content put out by today’s studios. It is pure discontent that fuels my anger.
When I was a little girl, male actors exuded images of strength, courage, and sensitivity. They were role models for boys and daydreams of future husbands for girls. (Yes, little girls once dreamed of growing up and getting married!) In the 1940s and 1950s here was no gratuitous violence splashed across the big screen. Oh, yes, the bad guys bit the dust, but moviegoers did not see the blood and gore. Good won out over evil. More importantly, evil was not glamorized. Punishment was swift and sure. Deeds had consequences. Oh, if that only held true in real life today — let alone film.
Before children begin school, many have seen so many deaths on television and in the movies that they have a stilted view of the value of life. To devalue life in such a way is unwise. However, such a desensitizing of the youngest of us is beyond unwise, it is dangerous. To impressionable minds, characters don’t die. They just reappear in another movie role.
Sadly, the only children who know violence for what it truly is live in neighborhoods riddled with drive-by shootings and gangs. For some families, there is no choice to move. The long-term damage to children who witness death and fear their neighborhoods is incalculable.
And then we have the video games….
How many of us can forget that the Columbine shooters honed their marksmanship on video games? Game titles are enough to stop you in your tracks — that is, you have the stomach to read them. Slow down at a store and take a look. Images will deepen your disgust.
Oh, the kids love these games, but the raw and graphic content arouses suspicion and fear in clear-thinking adults. It’s entirely too easy to plop a kid in front of a television set or a computer and go about household duties with no conscience as to what they may we watching.
Again, it’s my age that kindles this animus. To most young folks, we of the sixty-plus set are out of the loop and do not understand. I worry that we understand all too well. After all, the risks of exposing children to violent images and prurient lyrics are proven daily on the streets and in the juvenile courts across America. Every freedom includes a responsibility. So, where is the responsibility of those who grow rich selling such products? Absent.
Today’s music is loud. So was ours. The music of the 1950s and 1960s, with few exceptions, included lyrics you could sing and not end up grounded or choking on a mouth full of soap. Nobody sang about killing policemen or brutalizing women. Some songs recounted car wrecks, like one by the Everly Brothers. But most song lyrics simply tugged at our emotions, describing first loves and broken hearts.
I realize that we cannot return to the days of the “Golden Oldies,” but sometimes I just wish my grandchildren could have a bird’s eye view of the fun we all had when we were growing up. In truth, I lament that America did not carry forward the morals of those days. Maybe, as a generation, we were sheltered; but we were allowed to grow up slowly.
We seldom witnessed any kind of violence as little ones. Our lives centered about school and church. So much is the pity we cannot say that for many of the kids today. Sadly, youth athletic activities are scheduled on Sunday, further diminishing the impetus for parents to take their children to worship services.
Our generation had limits, but limits balanced with love. Our parents cared about us. For me, what stands out most is the support for the widows of World War II and Korean veterans. These wives and mothers had to take on rearing a family alone. It was a common thing to see churches and school organizations pull together to help these women and to guide the children.
Unwed mothers were not only rare in my day, but the whole situation branded the girl with an identity that stuck for a lifetime. “Love and marriage, love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage” were more than words to a song; they were the order of the day.
We certainly cannot say that for many young people today. Single parenthood is so rampant that it seems to be normal. Consider all the ads featuring a woman and children. It’s as if the theme should be “The Missing Man.” Today’s kids expect thrilling entertainment no matter the venue. Imagination is something for others to showcase, not for kids to use. Clearly, there doesn’t seem to be any limit to what today’s children can see or hear.
In truth, this lack of supervision does not apply to all children. There are parents are out there who do care. They monitor what their children experience. However, considering the increasing crime and disappointing graduation rates, something needs to be to encourage parents to value and push the merits of getting a good education. But that’s fodder for yet another column!
Where is the balance for many children today? I fear it is absent. Think about it.