TV Archives - Page 12 of 19 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

Doctors Advise No TV in Teenagers Bedrooms

Posted on: 09/8/10 6:53 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Two questions that doctors are being encouraged to ask teenage patients:

1. How much time do you spend daily with entertainment media?

2. Is there a TV set or Internet access in your bedroom?

Hmmmm. Perhaps these are important influences to consider.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) just released (August 30, 2010) their brand new study titled, “Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media.” This report examines media messages teenagers are absorbing and how those influences affect their well being. In other words… when kids watch the music video for the #1 song Teenage Dream and watch Katy Perry getting her clothes torn off by a guy… does that really affect our kids? That’s what the AAP sought to discover.

The results of this study? Pretty scary. (I’ll definitely be including some of this in my upcoming parent workshops.)

Here are some of the elements that jumped out at me:

More than 75% of prime-time programs contain sexual content.
Only 14% of these incidents mention any risks or responsibilities of sexual activity.
Talk about sex on TV can occur as often as 8 to 10 times per hour.
Between 1997 and 2001 alone, the amount of sexual content on TV nearly doubled.
American media makes sex seem like a harmless sport in which everyone engages, and results of considerable research have indicated that the media can have a major effect on young people’s attitudes and behaviors.
The media may function as a “superpeer” in convincing adolescents that sexual activity is a normative behavior for young teenagers.
Listening to sexually degrading lyrics is associated with earlier sexual intercourse.
Out of nine longitudinal studies seeking to answer whether sexy media contributes to early sexual activity, seven of these studies have shown that exposure to sexual content in TV and other media in early adolescence can as much as double the risk of early sexual intercourse.
Early exposure to sexual content doubled the risk of teen pregnancy.
Bedroom TVs are associated with greater substance use and sexual activity by teenagers.

They summarized their findings well: “Clearly, the media play a major role in determining whether certain teenagers become sexually active earlier rather than later.”

The good news from the report:

Teenagers whose parents control their TV-viewing habits are less sexually experienced
Adolescents whose parents limit their TV-viewing are less likely to engage in early sex.

The messages from this report are loud and clear. Media affects our kids. So parents, help your kids make good media decisions. Pretty simple.

The report actually words it like this: Pediatricians should counsel parents to recognize the importance of the media, exert control over their children’s media choices, keep their children’s bedrooms free of TVs and Internet connections, and avoid letting their children see PG-13– and R-rated movies that are inappropriate for them.

Interesting that someone is finally chiming in about PG-13 movies. I’ve shared my two cents on that and provided a few examples here and here.

This isn’t the AAP’s first report on the subject. Last year the AAP released similar reports on the effects of sex and violence in the media. We wrote a Youth Culture Window article detailing the results of those reports, urging parents to monitor their kids’ media and help them make good media choices. This month’s AAP report conveys much of the same, but with even more current data revealing exactly how dire the situation is becoming.

Click here for the whole report. (Warning… some of you aren’t going to like the conclusions the report makes about abstinence only sex education. I encourage you to not throw out the baby with the bathwater.)

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A Glimpse Into What Teens Watch

Posted on: 08/3/10 5:37 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Three times a year… yes, only three times a year, I tell you to set your DVRs to record an award show watched by teens. One of those is coming next Monday night on Fox: The Teen Choice Awards.

I always tell parents to put their kids to bed and turn on The Teen Choice Awards. This show is always a revealing look into our youth culture, giving adults a peek at many of the teen idols their kids listen to, watch and talk about. It’s healthy for adults to be in “the know” about these things.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking you to start listening to Katy Perry every day or watching Jersey Shore. This one glimpse will tell you plenty. Take last year for instance– Miley’s little pole dance, and Britney’s “Ultimate Choice” award. Click here for my entire synopsis of that event.

This year I wouldn’t expect much less with Katy Perry as a host and performing. We all saw what her performance brought at the MTV Video Music Awards.

So set your DVRS to Fox on Monday night.

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The Sexualization of Young Girls

Posted on: 07/28/10 10:37 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I’ve blogged about the subject countless times- the impact that sexualized media has on our kids, particularly our girls. And often I receive comments back, “Can’t we do something about this?”

Yes. Plenty. And most of it starts with what you can do in your own home. But some might also be interested in some national legislation that’s on the table.

The issue is this: today’s youth are bombarded with sexualized media content, and its consequences are unquestionable (Head up… I think today’s blog is going to break a record for the most hyperlinks. I’m going to bombard you with research and articles today). You see it every day in the top 10 songs at any given time, or from artist that know that sex sells, artist like Britney, Christina, and even Miley. Some researchers have actually labeled this phenomena, calling it “sexualization.” The American Psychological Association released a report titled, ‘The Sexualization of Girls,’ defining sexualization as “When a person’s value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified, e.g., made into a thing for another’s sexual use.” According to their research, the consequences of sexualization are detailed as “negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, sexuality, and attitudes and beliefs.”

As parents and youth workers, we’ve seen these effects first hand. You have heard me talk about it, and hopefully even read the research firsthand. Even those not in contact with kids read the headlines and can’t avoid the fact that “1 in 4 teenager girls have an STD.”

Think about that for a second- especially those that think, “Oh, this is nothing new.” If you graduated in 1967- 1 in 32 teenagers had an STD. In 1983- 1 in 18 teenagers had an STD.

Today, it’s 1 in 4.

Bottom line: Kids are saturating themselves in sexualized media, they don’t understand the consequences, and they’re paying for it big time. All this while parents watch from the sidelines.

You’ve heard me rant about this numerous times and I always like to provide a “take-away,” something parents and youth workers can do about it (talking with your kids, watching media with your kids, establishing boundaries, etc.) This time I’m going to defer to Dr. Stephanie Smith from the APA website in her article, Raising Healthy Kids in a Sexualized Media World. Stephanie draws our attention to the impact of sexualization and links the national legislation on the table. I love her wrap up (here “take-away”) to parents– “tips for helping children manage what they see and hear and make healthy choices” (I want you to hear it from someone else for a change). Here they are in brief.

Stay Engaged
Check in on the shows your kids are watching; listen to the music they listen to; read the magazines they read.

Talk a Lot but Listen More
Instead of dominating the conversation talking about why you think something is right or wrong, let your kids take the lead. I am continually amazed at the insight and maturity many kids have about these topics – we just need to give them the opportunity to tell us!

Be the Teacher
You are still your child’s first and most important teacher and role model. Even if they don’t seem to be watching or listening to you – DON’T BE FOOLED – they are!

I encourage you to read her thoughts in entirety here.

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“Just Let Em’ Watch TV!”

Posted on: 07/19/10 4:31 PM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s amazing how often parents just stand by and watch their kids lose their innocence.

This past weekend on my flight coming back from speaking in Nebraska two elementary-aged kids sat next to me. Their mom sat a couple rows behind and her kids ended up by me– a boy and girl, probably 3rd and 5th grade.

I introduced myself and joked a little about the drawings on the emergency card. They laughed and I asked them questions about flying, “Have you ever flown before?” “Do you like flying?” I wanted them to feel comfortable with me for the flight. After the takeoff, I helped them order their drinks and work the tray tables. They were really polite, sweet little kids.

Soon the little girl pulled down her seat tray, removed a stuffed monkey from her bag and placed him up on the tray, sitting comfortably with his legs crossed and staring back at her with his shiny black little eyes. The boy pulled out a toy dragon and placed it with care on his tray table.

I remember thinking, “How young. How innocent.”

About 30 minutes into the flight, they slid their backpacks from under the seat in front of them and pulled out some magazines. The little boy had a MAD Magazine, the little girl had the newest tween magazine, littered with pictures of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Robert Pattinson and other teen idols.

It was heartbreaking watching this little girl, probably just 8-years-old, looking in awe at pictures of Miley and Kristen, reading little “did you know” facts about their celeb lifestyles. It was upsetting because I saw the innocence slowly being sucked away. Here’s a sweet little kid who probably just learned how to ride her bike. Her favorite companion is a stuffed monkey. And what does our society want to do with these little girls? Grow them up much too fast!

Here little girl… look at this celeb named Miley. Or this one named Britney. Sorry, we can’t show you pics of Lindsey right now… she’s fresh out of rehab and back in jail.

Which ‘Twilight‘ guy do you like better? Robert or Taylor? Here they are with their shirts off. Aren’t they dreamy? Here’s a rapper singing with Justin Beiber. Oooops, don’t download any of this rapper’s music– it’s explicit.

I felt like covering the monkey’s eyes. I’ll protect you Baboo!

After the kids tired of the magazines, they started playing with their toys. It was adorable. “Hey, let’s say that Baboo rides your dragon!” The kids made their toys fly, wrestle each other (the dragon seemed to always prevail against the monkey), and romp off to an assortment of imaginary worlds.

All of a sudden their mother came up to check on them. “Hey, use the earphones and listen to the music or watch the TV show.”

The kids stared back at their mother like, Do we have to?

Mom dug the headphones out of their seat pocket and showed them how to put them on. “Here, watch this show.”

I looked up to see what United was playing for “family” enjoyment. An episode of Two and a Half Men (I kid you not).
The kids reluctantly put on their headphones and stared up at the screen while their mother returned to her seat. After two minutes the kids grew restless. The boy leaned over to his sister, “Let’s play some more.”

The headphones disappeared, Charlie Sheen’s sex jokes were silenced, and within seconds Baboo and the dragon were back to wrestling once again.

If only we could freeze this moment of innocence.

Unfortunately, in just a blink of an eye, middle school will arrive, the monkey and the dragon will probably be shelved, and the iPods of these two cherubs will be full of that day’s Katy Perry, Christina Aguillera and Miley Cyrus. Mom won’t have to encourage TV watching anymore; TV will trump building forts, riding bikes and playing with toys. ABC and MTV will become their teachers, innocence will be totally lost… all under the watch of well-meaning parents.

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’ (Ezekiel 33:6)

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)

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What’s New for Teens on TV… Don’t Ask!

Posted on: 06/21/10 2:24 PM | by Jonathan McKee

School’s out, summer has officially arrived… and kids are officially bored. So what are many of them going to do?

As much as I would love to tell you that kid will be outside playing stickball in the street or riding their bikes to the lake to swim… the reality is, media is going to be a HUGE part of their summer. And research shows that the majority of that media will be TV.

So what’s on TV?

Most of the new shows aren’t out yet… except for two strategically timed brand new shows from MTV. And I’m actually afraid to even type what these two shows are about, because then many of your “content-blockers” might block this blog. So… hmmmm…. let me be scientific: the shows really focus on male genitalia. (how was that?)

This week our Youth Culture Window article goes into great detail about the shows. Here’s just a snippet. And please, pardon our candor:

A nerd with a big penis becomes the talk of the school. A stuffed bear with a big penis becomes the rival of a puppet ape.

Yep, these really are the plotlines for two of MTV’s new shows.

Introducing RJ Berger
The Hard Times of RJ Berger now airs on MTV on Monday nights at 10:00pm EST, following its pilot episode which debuted immediately after the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 6, 2010. The title of the show is actually a play on words because of the lead character’s…ummm, how do I say this?…“anatomical gift.”

CLICK HERE FOR THAT ENTIRE ARTICLE

It was funny. When I sent this article to my secretary to proof, she sent it back to me with this note: “Too much ‘penis’ in this article.”

I’ve never been sent a note like that before. (What has our society come to that we have to be careful how to even disclose to you about this kind of content?!!)

Sigh.

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TV isn’t Dead, but Growing

Posted on: 06/18/10 2:21 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes claims, “TV is not only not dead, but it’s one of the fastest growing businesses. Ratings, time spent and viewership are all up.”

Two weekends ago I taught my Connect Workshop to a group of youth leaders from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In that workshop I started with a youth culture quiz. Two weeks prior I started my parent seminar with the same quiz. In both those groups… they almost all missed this question:

What activity is more popular with teenagers age 12-17?

A. Watching TV

B. Internet Use

Everyone always guesses B.

The answer is A… by a landslide.

The results are clear across the board- all agree that TV dominates the media time of young people (and adults too, actually). Kaiser reports that 8-18 year olds average 4 hours and 29 minutes of television programming each and every day (an increase of 40 minutes per day since the last report 5 years ago). And Nielson reports about 3 hours and 46 minutes daily on traditional TV alone (not internet TV, mobile TV, no DVRs, etc.). for 12-17-year-olds.

Time-Warner’s Jeff Bewkes says “Digital is good for TV,” in this report from Nielson this week, contrary to conjecture that internet or mobile devices are slowly replacing TV.

The sad fact is… TV content is just getting worse and worse. As I shared last week in my article about the sexually charged MTV Movie Awards, “MTV has put themselves in a bind. Each year they try to trump the previous year, and the easiest way to do that is to push the limits even further. It’s difficult to even imagine the show 10 years from today.”

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Katy Perry the Host

Posted on: 06/13/10 3:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

You know Katy Perry as the girl who Kissed a Girl and Liked It, or most recently, the girl with the naughty hand gestures at the MTV Movie Awards when singing about how the California Girls are so hot that they “will melt your popsicle.” Who better to host the next Teen Choice Awards on August 9th.

The Teen Choice Awards is Fox’s chance to both reflect and currupt our culture annually. Last year the Awards was where Miley did her little pole dance.

This year, with Katy at the Helm, we can probably expect a lot more sexual humor. Her few minutes of screen time before and after the MTV Awards last weekend gave us just a glimpse of that.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Perry will “both host and perform at the show” this year.

Hmmmmm.

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TV Viewing Delays Development

Posted on: 05/11/10 12:21 PM | by Jonathan McKee

TV watching has been quite the buzz lately, especially since both Nielson and Kaiser have recently confirmed that TV watching is by far the largest consumed media across all age groups.

Now a Canadian study has found that too much television for young children is bad for your child’s health and brain development. (Surprise, surprise!) This isn’t the first study we’ve seen talking about how too much media could hurt kids’ health.

It’s funny… at the last parent workshop I taught, I asked the parents attending which entertainment media source the average kid spent the most time in front of. Most parents voted “internet” or “music.” It’s a common misconception. Believe it or not, TV still reigns (you can look at my blog about Nielson’s results here or our article about Kaiser’s study here). Even with the increase in online downloading of shows, normal “traditional” TV watching wins.

So it’s no surprise when this Canadian study discovered not only that kids were watching too much TV, but it affected their social skills, math skills and even their heath!

Here’s a snippet about the study from the Montreal Gazette:

The parents of 1,314 children were asked how much time their little ones spent in front of the box at 29 months and again at 58 months. When the children were 10, researchers used academic records, interviews with Grade 4 teachers and body mass index measurements, weighted against factors such as temperament, family makeup and how far their mother went in school to tease out a portrait of how TV watching as a toddler shaped a child’s ability to focus, process complex information and think logically.

“We found every additional hour of TV exposure among toddlers corresponded to a future decrease in classroom engagement and success at math, increased victimization by classmates . . . a more sedentary lifestyle, higher consumption of junk food and, ultimately, higher body mass index,”

That’s a no-brainer.

Hey… I’ve got an idea: monitor your kids’ TV watching! (Brilliant, huh?)

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Gaga’s Racy American Idol Performance

Posted on: 05/9/10 9:50 PM | by Jonathan McKee

American Idol is getting racier.

There’s been so much to blog about lately (thanks to Miley’s new video and Comedy Central’s potential Jesus cartoon series) I haven’t even mentioned last week’s American Idol show where Gaga performed her song Alejandro in her little lacy-thong-outfit, with dance choreography that rivaled Adam Lambert’s American Music Awards performance.

The ironic fact: she’s mad because some of her performance was edited out by Fox!

Funny… I was already bummed at what they decided to keep! I’m afraid to find out what they cut.

If you missed the performance, you should probably just take me word for it. It was typical Gaga: weird and over-sexualized. Sad really.

NY Daily News describes her performance:

Gaga wore an inky veil that covered her pretty little head. But when she stepped out from behind the grand piano, her lacy lingerie and full body fishnet were on full display.

But it turns out Gaga flashed a lot more skin than Fox was ready for. According to MTV, editors blurred out the singer’s left breast as she sprawled across the floor during the song’s chorus. Gaga’s performance was eventually cut from 6.5 minutes to under 5

I’ll be honest. That description makes it sound mild. It was the raciest I’ve seen yet on American Idol. MTV.com provides a snippet of the video here (again, a mild section of the performance. Some of the gestures she and her dancers made literally made my jaw drop). Perez Hilton’s site has the “unedited” version of the performance. (Keep in mind… she performed this for National TV in front of millions of kids!)

This isn’t the first time I’ve griped about American Idol’s discernment. In my blog titled Oversexualized about a month ago, I mentioned Usher’s performance of OMG and presence on American Idol.

How far is too far?

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Jesus Cartoon Series

Posted on: 05/8/10 8:56 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Wow… and I thought that South Park’s Jesus was bad enough!

It looks like Comedy Central is considering doing a cartoon series about Jesus Christ. And trust me, this isn’t going to be like a video that you buy at Family Christian.

Yahoo News shares this AP press release:

“JC” is one of 23 potential series the network said it has in development. It depicts Christ as a “regular guy” who moves to New York to “escape his father’s enormous shadow.”

His father is presented as an apathetic man who would rather play video games than listen to his son talk about his new life, according to Comedy Central’s thumbnail sketch of the idea. Reveille, the production company behind “The Office,” “Ugly Betty” and “The Biggest Loser,” is making “JC.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Jesus Christ has been on a Comedy Central cartoon; he’s a recurring character on the long-running “South Park.”

Sigh.

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