While watching the election results on FOX last night, I saw a commercial that really pushed my buttons. It looked like a harmless commercial with a cute little boy and adorable penguin, but I saw something very wrong and scary. Please watch the video and then read on.
Did you see it? Did you see the little boy being "entertained" with his favorite program without the restriction of "something as trivial, as location?" Did you see the mother's sigh of relief as she passed him the portable TV? Did you see the boys inability to approach something real? I did. And it really bothered me.
Now, yes, you can say that the child is young and was intimidated by the large, over sized penguin. But, with the idea of convenience that this company is portraying, we could seriously be hurting our children by not letting them deal with real life.
Most of our habits are learned when we are children, and as adults, we spend countless of hours and plenty of money trying to change them. So, what will we do to our children if we just put them in front of the TV any moment we can? How will they cope with life if we sooth their fears with entertainment? How will they grow up to lead and stand up for what is right if they can only relate to technology? How much control and say will they have, as a people, if we raise them to run from their fears? Is the lack of accountability in our children really worth our moment of quiet or sigh of relief? I don't believe so.
I have to make it very clear that I'm not a writer and don't always know how to express myself, so please be forgiving. But, this commercial is very scary to me. I just had to share and I hope that we will not be a people that is always looking for entertainment.
5 comments:
You couldn't have said it any better. I don't watch TV and our kids will watch DVD's on occasion... ON OCCASION!!! And they are more like Planet Earth (which we just got) and good Disney's (GOOD DISNEY) The classics, where the girls are actually DRESSED! Anyway. That commercial bothered me just as it did you. I did notice the mother and how the kid was scared of the REAL LIFE. It was very scary but at the same time, I'm happy that I'm NOT doing that to my kids by CHOICE. Dr. Laura said the other day that she didn't remember anyone being "FAT" growing up, everyone was always active and playing outside. Now so many kids are glued to the TV, shows, XBOX what ever. It's so true. What happened to outside and running around like kids should be doing. I'm so glad someone else shares my opinion. And of course it would be YOU! I think you expressed yourself perfectly.
You are totally correct. I'm glad I (by choice) will never do that to my children. There is so much in this world for them to explore, and their imagination could never be satisfied by any kind of technology. It's sad...but this is what the world is coming to.
You've given me something good to think about. We didn't used to watch TV, until a few months ago when we moved into an apartment with free cable. I know I let my kids watch more TV than they should... Great post, and great writing. You express yourself well!
Very scary! I don't understand parents who don't see anything wrong with raising their children this way. I cringe every time I see a van full of kids glued to the television. Now I guess we will see strollers and cribs with built in dvd players for babies.
I totally agree with your post, and you did a great job expressing yourself!
I wrote a post about a month ago about a similar thing, but ended up not posting it because I KNEW it would offend most of my family! (Since that time, I've started posting exactly what I think, and have not worried about their opinions.)
The post was about the recent trip I had taken, and we were amazed at the number of "zombified" children we saw in the back of SUV's and Minivans!
We were singing songs (with parts even!), reading, memorizing scriptures, knitting hats, and doing cross stitch! And yet, these same mothers are always asking me how we find time to do all the things we do. I tell them, well, first off, we don't own a TV! They usually GASP!! ;o)
I look forward to hearing more from you!
Anne
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