TV is what you make it!
By Doug Hagin (07/18/05)
If there were a common theme that has appeared in more of my columns than any other has, it would be political correctness. This scourge on our society has many forms. Generally, all of them have in common a hatred and intolerance for completely innocuous things like inanimate objects and activities that hurt no one except possibly those who engage in those activities.
Consider some of the things which have been blasted and demonized by the politically correctors. This list would include but not be limited to guns, meat, cigarettes, laughing at jokes, which are deemed offensive, flags, dairy products, movie popcorn, and sport utility vehicles. Of course, children’s games like tag and tug of war are to be included in the undesirable grouping as well.
This list is very disturbing, and there is very little doubt as to which side of the political spectrum is most infected with the virus of political correctness. PC is very heavily weighted to the Liberal side of the ledger; we all know this and accept it as a simple fact of life. Sadly, though there are a growing number of Conservatives who are beginning to practice their own form of PC.
Like their Liberal counterparts, the Conservatives who are falling into the intellectual trap of PC are generally making fools of themselves. Sadly, like the PC left, the PC right is increasingly engaging in hatred of inanimate objects all too often these days. Now you might be scratching your head about now wondering what inanimate objects some Conservatives are targeting.
How about TV and video games? Ever remember hearing a Conservative rail against those? The internet as well has received a ton of criticism and hatred from the political right. Now please do not mistake my meaning here. There are some very fair criticisms of television content. The internet can certainly be a cesspool of smut and harmful websites. There are even some video games I would never let a child of mine near. The purpose here is not to criticize the fair criticisms of these technologies. It is to question the supposed remedies some of my fellow Conservatives would suggest.
Let us examine where the vast majority of the bashing of TV, video games, or the internet is centered. These various outlets outlets of entertainment are always painted as harmful to our children. OK, I can buy that to a point. Some of the content on TV can be unfit for kids; no reasonable person would argue against that.
In fact, TV is now often referred to as completely undesirable for children and families. Sorry but that assertion is worthy of a Liberal, who is generally guided by feelings. Conservatives generally think their way through life. So why would any Conservative advocate the glories of not owning a TV? Why would anyone say that the very worst thing any parent could do would be to let their child have a TV in their room?
Are these people serious? Have they looked at the wide array of content available on TV? Channels devoted to sports, history, nature, science, cooking, learning, news, politics, animals, travel, military, technology are all there for anyone choosing to view them. Are these channels dangerous somehow? There are networks, which play classic films, children’s programming, cartoons, and that have tremendous educational value. Also, take note of all the Christian programming our TV can bring us as well.
Are we going to convince ourselves that tossing the TV out because of some unfit content, and therefore throwing out all the positive content is a smart move? Especially when we have at our fingertips the ability to block any channel, we wish. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater! To “protect” our children we are going to deny them ready access to a plethora of great educational tools?
The same things can be said of the internet as well. Yes, yes and yes again, there is some trashy, harmful garbage on the net. There is also tremendous educational value as well. So what is the prudent choice? To not have the internet, or to control it with filtering programs and parental responsibility?
Video games are often bashed as too violent, too graphic, and a giant waste of valuable time. Yes some games exist which should not be played by kids, but there are many which are great. Moreover, please keep in mind that entertaining ourselves is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with escaping reality and getting lost for a while in a good book, a movie, or a video game. Our minds need to be fed, stimulated, challenged, and yes, at times, entertained.
There is another argument increasingly being leveled at TV, the internet, and video games. The charge being that they consume our children. Well if your child watches TV ten hours a day that is not healthy. If they surf the web for hours and hours, there is a problem. Of course, of they spend 12 hours a day reading that would be unhealthy too.
Children, like adults need balance. They need to spend time exercising, playing outside, making friends, reading, learning, having fun, thinking, and exploring the world. If they spend some of that time surfing websites on dinosaurs is that bad? If they spend some of that time engrossed in an Animal Planet special on venomous snakes is that bad? If they spend an hour blasting aliens, or playing video football is that going to ruin their life?
As I stated earlier, there are some very bad things on TV, and on the internet. Likewise, there are some objectionable books at Borders or Barnes and Noble aren’t there? Yet we do not form coalitions to boycott bookstores, or libraries. When I was a kid I loved libraries, I loved watching sports, playing outside, swimming, hiking, reading, and yes watching TV. I had balance, my parents made sure of that. Why are some parents less than willing to do that today?
There are so many great opportunities today that I never had. I had to wait to visit a library every two weeks. Today kids can do that every day any day on the web. In my day TV channels were very limited. Was TV better that way? No, it was not.
Sure, there was less objectionable content, but there were less educational shows as well. TV is no different from a library. The net is no different from a bookstore. You can seek out what you want. That is called freedom, and it is a great thing. Conservatives should be celebrating that freedom and teaching our children responsibility and good choices instead of blaming an inanimate object with a 52-inch screen.
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