Television

I was talking to my dad today about television. Neither of us watch an awful lot, but he pointed out that a lot of TV shows and movies are all about people being irresponsible and silly, and I had to concede he has a point.

But it occurred to me later that most of the shows on ABC For Kids are quite the opposite. Various shows focus on the importance of friendship, generosity, co-operation, correcting your own mistakes, working hard, and generally being a decent human in your interactions with the world and other people. Almost every kids' show has some underlying message regarding appropriate behaviour.

It made me wonder at what point, and why, do the makers of television programs think, "Ok, enough good messages, lets go wild!"? Why bother drilling excellent examples into the heads of very young children, only to undo it all later with frivolity? It's not as though children simply stop absorbing things at age five with their personality fixed and no further influence permitted!

I hope that when Elspeth is older, I can easily find television shows that promote acceptable behaviour and demonstrate the negative results of being heinous. It's a big task, I doubt I can do it alone, so come through for me, TV!