EyeShotFirst said:
Why don't you all pay attention to the kid channels and tell me they are just fine for children.
Whoa? Now we are talking about other cartoons that are on kids channels that are bad for children? I don't watch kids cartoons, so I cannot contribute to any discussion on that topic. I don't have cable or an antenna hooked up to my TV, so I have no idea about anything that comes on TV.
South Park is slowly dying. It had it's funny moments, but they have ran out of ideas lately.
Slowly dying? Ran out of ideas? The last several seasons have been absolutely brilliant! People didn't stop talking about the recent episode where Cartman get's a Glenn Beck style conservative talk show for weeks. Ever been to a bar on a Wednesday night? If there is a new episode of South Park on that night, more likely than not they'll be playing it.
It certainly isn't slowly dying, I think it actually gets better every year. Matt Stone and Trey Park do a great job of keeping each new episode relevant to current events. Every now and then there is an off episode, but just as often they hit the mark.
That said, I can't stand Family Guy, and I don't think I've really watched The Simpsons since high school.
I am not disrespecting your parenting, but don't you think their school mates who are allowed to watch these shows might just rub it off on them? I started cussing in the 3rd grade because my friends dared me to. From then until after high school "fuck" was like punctuation to me.
There you have it, even without South Park, you were swearing like a sailor in the third grade. Maybe I am way off on this, but perhaps we are dealing with a whole different issue here? Maybe shows like South Park and Family Guy are not the problems.
I hate to be so anti-everything, but I really can't help it. I see the world turning into this awful hell hole. Children are going to be the next generation. Don't you think we ought to make them nicer. You don't want your world leaders to be a representation of the things they see on television.
I apologize for being offensive again, but I would like to see a better world. Character is what needs fixing more than anything.
I don't think things are as bad as you think, but I do agree with you to some degree, we've lost a lot. Character, honor, respect, many parents do not teach these things to their kids anymore. If parents let the television be the teacher of their kids while they stand back and watch, then I think we absolutely deserve whatever "hell" our future society may become.
But then again, I watch South Park, and my outward behavior is not effected by it at all. Kids are impressionable, but they grow up. If you are afraid of future world leaders running around acting like Peter Griffin or Eric Cartman, I think you can go ahead and relax. I think there are far bigger issues out there making our children dumber and far more two dimensional than they need to be; and knocking one or two TV shows off the air isn't going to fix that. The issue is more what our children are not getting, over what they are getting.
If parents allow their kids to eat whatever they want without making them eat anything healthy, i.e "Eat your vegetables!" "I don't want to eat my vegetables, I want pie!" "Fine, here, eat your pie." And if we are regularly treating them to McDonald's or making them boxed dinners such as Macaroni & Cheese instead of cooking balanced meals for them, then we are going to have obese kids who grow into obese adults. It is the same way with what we feed our child's brain.
With information and entertainment we have reached the point where many parents are allowing their kids to eat only junk food (TV, videogames, etc.), and because of this we shouldn't be surprised when our kids grow up to have an "obese" brain. Too many parents rely on schools to give their children the balanced diet of information they need. But that is just as silly as relying solely on school lunches to give children the diet of nutrients they need. Our kids are our responsibilities. Whatever values we instill in them will ultimately trump those little bits of junk food (such as TV shows they are not suppose to watch) they consume in secrecy behind our backs. Just as sneaking in a candy bar every now and then won't hurt them, provided they are fed a regular healthy diet.
In this way, blaming the entertainment industry for shows like South Park harming our children's minds, is much like blaming the candy industry for harming our children's health.