Prime Time Education - Is a Hard Pill to Swallow

You are what you eat - this saying has been around for a very long time. There is now a newer, more modern sage saying that everyone should take notice of - especially parents.Your children are what you let them see. A bit different, yes, but very up to date when it comes to what our children are allowed or just happen upon as they play video games, switch channels on the TV, or surf on the computer.
There have been some court cases of parents suing companies because their children committed vicious crimes after seeing a TV program or playing a computer game that allowed them to "shoot 'em up". The difference was that the "players" got up after the game, but in real life, the victims don't get up. School violence is a travesty and everyone asks, "Where did these children come up with these violent thoughts?"
There is violence in something as simple as comic books, with super heroes doing the unthinkable. The toys that mimic the super heroes can do anything that the imagination can give them the authority to do. Movies, TV, computer video games, and even TV shows that allow children to see violent crimes, such as rape, murder, incest, and torture. They may not stay on the channel for very long, but it is the image that finds a place in their mind and decides to stay there.
Corporations that put out this type of action advertisements say that this is not their fault, and that their product just could not have the influence that the parents say it has. Case in point - why do corporations spend literally millions of dollars a minute to put a commercial on at the Super Bowl games. The answer - because they know that a picture is worth a thousand words and an image will leave a lasting impression. It is business sense to place your ads where so many people will see them. So, in essence, that image will stay in a consumer's back thoughts and when they see that image elsewhere or see a particular product, they will buy it because they remember the commercial - which might have been months past.
Human behavior has been charted by corporate America for a very long time. They have it down pat as to what sells products and what does not. While they mean no particular harm, as they state, they do target their images to areas and parts of the population that will trigger more business, bigger bottom lines. Liquor ads for low priced liquors appear all over low income areas of the country. Tobacco ads offer "gifts" for saving coupons which in turn means that you have to buy more to get something. Teenagers are pressured with "war game" videos and can even carry them with hand-held computers just in case they get bored with real life. These games are carried over into movies, various products with the insignia or image, and even into our drugstores. Take these vitamins and you too can be a "super hero."
Prime time TV is an unmanaged field of adult content but aired when families should be together and children of all ages are sitting right there on the couch next to mom and dad. Erectile dysfunction ads are prevalent and the idea that a pill will make you more of a man is there at every break in the program. The drug companies have pill ads that allow your children to see that from a simple stomach ache to a cold and sinus infection, the pills are right there to relieve whatever ails you. How about peer pressure, fear of not being popular, or even freezing up on test day? Children are growing much taller and stronger these days, but their minds are still the minds of a child. The maturity factor grows with experience and day to day living. As a child their perception of reality and what they see does get a bit mixed up. What they don't hear are the side effects to these drug ads which now include such daunting effects as cancer, heart attack, stroke, and even death. This is lost in the vision of the perfect man, woman, and couple.
What can a parent do when their children are at risk, and society as a whole is less because of the marketing strategies of corporate America? There are companies that are taking their responsibilities to heart and trying to curb when their ads appear and where, but once again, it is the few bad eggs that allow prime time and fun time to be turned into violence. Did you ever try to get a nagging "theme" song out of your mind, or even recognize a picture on a billboard before you even knew the title? Well, children's minds work basically the same way. There is that image of perfection, popularity, and "kicking ass" that sways their mind set into being what they can't be at the moment. They want to be on top and they want to prove something to everybody that they have prowness and abilities. They do have abilities and as the future becomes today, they will grow into whatever they want to do with their lives. But right now, right here, that pill, that cigarette, bottle of liquor, and worse, that violence calls to the heavens that they can have it all right now, no questions asked. But the questions have to be asked, and the changes must be made. The solution - taking the time to note the products and the companies that make them - remember these companies are always looking at their bottom line - products sold and profits raked in. If you have to hurt them where it really hurts in order to get them to stop destroying the futures of so many young, then don't buy what they are promoting, and don't allow these products in your home, no matter how much your children cry, demand, and bring up the fact that "everyone has one." While that may be true, your main concern is to start changing things right on your home front so that parents in the next house can use your children as the example of how " you don't need that to be good in school, good with friends, and going down the right path to a wonderful future.
Parenting is a hard job because there are no instruction booklets that are given out at birth. It is a hit and miss sort of job description, but everyone strives for more hits then misses. Children do turn out fine and parents can be proud of milestones all along the path, but it does take strong standards, hard decisions, and knowing what is out there and can do harm. It is education for the parents and it is not taught in school, but in the very real world. The world does not have your child's best interests at heart because it is too busy making sure that money flows and profits rise. It is therefore the job of parents to take the reins and make sure that when they pull the "strings", they rope in decency, good values, and best of all, the pride that their children will have that their parents took some risks, maybe made some mistakes, but it was always done with love. Something to think about ©Arleen M. Kaptur April, 2009