Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The Loss of Innocence
In today's society it amazes me the amount of information that is out there for children to know. It seems to me that children have gone from being innocent 5 year olds playing with toys to 7 year old "teenagers" with cell phones and ipods. I understand that society is evolving and we must evolve with it but shouldn't a line be drawn? It is not only the electronics that children are getting a grasp of but the things that the media puts out there too know is insane. For example, the songs that are on the radio these days are no longer children-friendly. These children not only know the words of these songs but they unfortunately know the meaning to the words as well. The song by Brittney Spears "If You Seek Amy" is a good example of a song that has an underlying meaning. I think that the society in some ways is corrupting children and taking away their innocence. Whatever happened to children playing kickball til sundown and complaining when they have to come in for dinner. Now children are obsessed with T.V. and video games and get upset when their parents make them go outside to play. I understand that parents play a major role in how their children are raised and what they are exposed to, but now-a-days there is only so much a parent can shelter their children. With the exception of home-schooling your child and with-holding a social life from them, there is no way for a parent to completely control what their children are exposed to. I think that the media has to take the majority of responsibility of the fact that children are no longer children; they are teenagers in a little snack-sized person...
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I agree. Being a mother of two, this is a difficult topic for me. I look at the world and society today and I wonder, where will my children be in 30 years? There are far less educational shows on televison than there were when I was a child. I watch my son as he sits glued to movies like "Toy Story" and I think, does EVERY movie have to have a BAD guy? Even childrens films, Toy Story has "Sid", and Cars has "Chick Hicks", and even the Princess and the Frog has "Lawrence". Now mind you I allow my children to watch these movies because the underlying themes in them are actually positive. I just wish they didnt have to go through the negative to get there. Then there is always the factor of what they will see or learn at school, who they will surround themselves with and what they will do with their futures. I am left to believe this. I was raised in a strict but loving environment and my children will be raised in the same. I may not be able to shelter them, but I can guide them, help them and lead them down the right path. Truth is, one day they will grow up, just as I did and I will have to have faith in all I have instilled in them hoping that they will benfit from them as I did from my parents.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I think media is completely to blame for exposing such inappropriate content to young children and teens. Even cable stations such as TNT or USA air movies that have swears and sexual content that they would never play when I was younger. The music industry is another story. I was substitute teaching a kindergarten class the other day and a 5-year-old was singing the lyrics to "Put it Down on Me," and referred to himself as a "ladies man." That's when I realized how impressionable these young children are and the media is no longer filtering what they broadcast. You are right there, parents cannot shelter their children from other kids or from having a social life, so what do they do? I agree with "ngray" that you need to instill good morals and provide them with guidance.
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