I would be lying to you if I didn’t say I spend a good amount of time watching tv, so I feel I am quite qualified to say I know what effect tv has on our behavior as people. Anytime something funny or entertaining comes on, you can easily expect 850 out of the 900 people you see in an average day to be talking about it non-stop. If there is news of a potential ailment going around, people go to extreme precautions to prevent contraction of it, no matter how slim the chances may be that they even could do so. Heck, my mom can’t even sleep in a hotel room without being in her own sleeping bag because of some 60 Minutes report on the crazy stuff a handful of people have done in them (I will admit, after watching it, even I was skeptical of some things in hotels, no matter how expensive and fancy).
I say all of this to bring up my #1 secret fear, which subsequently been brought about by tv; raising a child. No, I’m not one of those deadbeat douchebag guys that go around trying to have sex with every female that has a heartbeat, praying that I don’t get a girl pregnant because it would get in the way of my “notch on the bedpost” lifestyle. This fear stems from tv showing me just how terrible kids can behave, and (because of our ever crumbling legal system) how little a parent can do in rebuttal to these little bastards.
To truly know my perspective on this issue, you should know how I was raised. I’ve always been raised in a strong Christian household. As a kid I can remember going to church on Sunday mornings in my best attire, learning the difference between moral right and wrong. My parents were very strict when it came to adhering to the rules of church, and when the big man upstairs didn’t punish me for me being stupid, they DEFINITELY picked up the slack. You see, they believed in one thing that I have noticed that many adults today think is ridiculous; spanking. Caught cheating on a test? Spank. Went into bad parts of the neighborhood? Spank, and if you knew my old neighborhood, you would know why. Talked back to one of my parents like I was crazy? Spank. Starting to catch the trend? I did, hence my lack of bad behavior. But I digress.
Let me paint a picture of what I’m talking about. Let’s look at your average tv family: two parents, two to three kids. Of these children, there is always the one rebellious teenager (or tween, you take your pick). This…demon is usually always in trouble with/questioning authority, with an under-developed sense of understanding and reasoning. He/she will do ANYTHING just to prove the point, that they have free will, and whatever your will is, they will go against it. Any sort of non-physical punishment imposed upon this child is…100% ineffective to say the least. Now, a couple of decades back, if such defiance was to wreak havoc in a household, some serious sense would be whipped into said child. Kids today have a tool though that is practically a trump card for this though. Three words: Child Protective Services.
If a distraught child came to you, crying about their extremely abusive parent, and then the parent comes to you furiously arguing in opposition, who are you going to believe? How would you feel if you went with the parent and that kid ended up dead from abuse? Difficult questions, eh? CPS has to properly asses any call from a child with these kinds of questions. Initially, all cases must be treated as if they are the real thing, which means an investigation would be launched. If people found out about this investigation, they most likely would assume the worst and see you in a new (tainted) light. People then shun you as a new social pariah, your parents disown you, and a giant panda flies out of nowhere to punch you in the face! This may be a worst case scenario, but it’s the kind of stuff that goes through my mind constantly because of tv.
I don’t know, I guess I’m just over-thinking it. I do feel like without some sort of physical punishment for a child, behavioral problem could arise more frequent, but that’s just how I was raised. I’m not talking like Guantanamo Bay style torture, but maybe a quick swat or two to say “Hey, don’t do that!” I supposed only the worst of the worst really go as bad as faking abuse to get their way, but I think at that point there are a lot of different factors going into it, like mental issues. It’s whatever though. I sure am glad we don’t live near pandas though, or I think I’d be a lot more paranoid about this :P
I feel the same...I grew up always thinking 'yeah, I'll be a parent someday', but as time goes on, I'm thinking so less and less. Not only does the thought of not being able to control my child come to mind, but also my own childhood, which wasn't a good one, let alone happy. Parents tend to act and raise children just as their parents did, and I would hate to ever do that to a kid. It's a good thing people our age have awhile to mull it over I suppose.
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