Children today are gaining too much information from television talk shows. Are talk shows setting a bad example for children of the future? Just take a moment to think of all the bad language, violence, and abuse that is portrayed through television programs such as Jerry Springer. The majority of parents would prefer to have their children rushing home from school to see the latest episode of the Flintstones or what is going on in Pokemon’s world. The big issue is that children are now racing to the television set to see what prostitute is sleeping with whose brother’s sister and how many women are pregnant and do not know who the daddy of their baby is. That is a good way for a young child to develop bad moral habits and interpret the wrong views on how to live their life. Children cannot be monitored at every possible second, but it is possible to be aware of what your child is doing and watching on TV. Think before you act, and realize that children’s futures are in the hands of an adult, and the things we say and do affect their everyday lives.
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!……not a nice tune to hear your child chanting. What children see on television talk shows like Jerry Springer can make a huge impact on how children decipher what is correct and incorrect. Children might see things on television such as women kissing women, men punching other men, or even exposure to women’s body parts and think that is a cool way to act. This could lead an innocent child to follow in the footsteps of a loser, a prostitute, or a jail bird. Children do not understand the effects of television today. Children are at a very fragile stage in their early years of life, and the environment that they grow up in impacts their future. Although, television is a main part of their environment, and parents cannot keep this away from a child. There is probably a television in almost every room in a normal house in today’s world, and children watch them. This is a source of entertainment, because playing outside has almost died out due to all the new video devices that are now made. Television is almost uncontrollable. The information, dealing with sexual topics and gays, that is provided on the Jerry Springer show should be censored from television, and it should certainly not air in the afternoon when children return home from school.
If parents today are having problems with controlling their child from watching nasty talk shows, what will parents in ten years be dealing with? The big issue of television censory that needs to be pushed would not harm anyone, it would simply aid in helping children develop a brighter future instead of given a majority of children a gutter mind. The television ratings would not suffer if these talk shows aired late at night when the children were asleep in their beds. This situation would prevent parents from having to explain to their children what the meaning was behind these unsuitable events that take place at four o’clock in the afternoon. Children should not have to deal with sexual topics, violence, and two men living together at such an early stage in life.
Bennett says, “The worst of television is the day-time television talk shows we have identified”(24).
He is not the only one that believes that television could produce better viewing material. I personally feel that these talk shows that broadcast in the afternoons should be banned because of the great deal of conflict it causes with our children. The conflict is caused in schools where children are talking about sex, drugs, and gays and they don’t realize that they are talking about a harmful subject. Children see Jerry’s guest discussing this so why can’t they? Teachers will punish children for their behavior or for what comes out of their mouth even if they do not realize that they are doing anything wrong. The footage is incredibly trashy and is not made for the younger viewers eyes, because children at a young age should be thinking of doll houses and transformers instead of sex and drugs. However Springer tends to see his show in a different light. Imagine that. “Springer said that kids always know what’s right-whenever he does a show, the young people in his audience boo the cheater, the beater, the racist, and the sexually irresponsible. When they cheer the bad guys, that’s when he’ll worry”(Gaines, p 31).
I do not think kids know the difference between what is right and wrong. Children are not mature enough to realize at such young ages that shows like this are dirty and not cool. This is an unfair model to our children of the world, because many parents have no control over what is going on while they are at work. The children are learning from the television about dealing with life, and as we all know, the television is not always the best source to rely on. I do not believe that children will ever realize what a cruel world that we live in until they have kids of their own.
How much information does your child know about sex? Do they know as much or more than we do even though they are still at such a young age? People today realize that we are not living in the 1950’s, but we still need morals in our lives to guide our children in the proper direction. For instance, if your child arrives at show and tell and decides to share with the class what happened on the last Jerry Springer show, which was about “who had been sleeping with who,” what kind of parent does that make you look like? Obviously not a good one in the teacher’s standpoint because you receive a phone call asking you to have a talk with your child and try not to let them bring a story in about sexually related issues to discuss with the whole class next time. Children should be showing their remote control trucks or their favorite Barbie doll to the class and not their favorite sex story.
Another factor children deal with is the violence. The Jerry Springer Show displays a great deal of violence and cruelty. How would you feel if your received a call from your child’s teacher telling you that your child just punched a classmate? When you asked your child why he conducted himself in this manner, he replied that he saw it on the Jerry Springer show, and when the people get angry on there they simply beat each other up. You then have to explain to your child that that is not the correct way to live your life. You find your child confused about the actions that he has just done. From his point of view it was perfectly okay because the cool Jerry Springer show showed people fighting. I was talking to a friend of mine that is a special education teacher in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and she was saying that she sees cases everyday that deal with children and violence. They blame on the bad neighborhood that they come from, but she said the main issue that they say is “I saw it on TV.” Children don’t remember all the good points in life, but they never forget the bad issues. Jerry Springer sets such a horrible example for young children, and mislead them to believe that violence is okay.
Parents, talk show hosts, and television broadcast stations should consider what this type of behavior is doing to children. They should all work together to form a group were these shows can only air late at night where children do not have access to these shows. We should take a stand to protect the children of the future and their morals. The parents of children should introduce them to the Flintstones and the Smurfs, not the Jerry Springer show. Parents think about what knowledge your child is picking up on everyday, and is it good or bad?