...and horse and buggy

[laurenba]

I was talking to the kids yesterday about pop culture, in general, and had this somewhat deflating exchange...

me:  Do the kids at school talk about television shows much?

younger son:  reflects...  No, not so much.

me:  I ask because when I was your age, we all watched the same television shows and talked about them at school the next day.

younger son

Comments

[leli_5]

*points at icon

[flippet]

BWAH!!!!!

You have a very smart assed son. :-)

I think that Tivo and the internet have totally altered how we take in our entertainment these days. We really don't make appointments for TV anymore.

Plus...there's not a whole lot on TV that I'd feel comfortable letting my kids watch and discuss the next day. Even 10-12-year-olds. There really isn't the stuff on like Who's The Boss, The Cosby Show, or ....whatever the heck else I watched in the pre-teen years. The safe, family-oriented shows. The stuff I like to watch now is either too violent, or simply too far above a kid's head for me to let them watch. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of parents felt similarly.

And then, depending on the community, kids are often too busy to watch much TV, what with all the teams and lessons, etc.

[laurenba]

The funniest thing about the exchange is that he wasn't being a smart ass -- he actually *believed* that tv was new when I was a kid.

It is true that, with the rise of cable, most tv shows that might have been on network tv's in the "old" days are now on kid-specific channels and are not viewed by the whole family. It kinda freaks me out what shows kids *do* watch now, however...

My kids watch The Simpsons (and adore it). Although I do think that it can be inappropriate, it is also incredibly well-written and funny and usually Mr. Lauren and/or I watch it with them. But there are alot of girls who are Older Son's age who love Friends (watched that lately? Often seriously inappropriate for a 11 year old, imo)and even Grey's Anatomy and such. And even if the parents say "No," there's online webcasting and You Tube and always a friend's house with more lenient parents (or older siblings). I think you're better off discussing some of the issues with them.

[leli_5]

'My' ;) kids watch just about any and everything. It's not up to me, since the rating level they're allowed to see was already decided when I started with the family. But yeah - Criminal Minds, Family Guy, CSI and such are the norm. We usually just talk about it and they seem fine.

Oh, and of course, the twins like The West Wing. It's led to some really good conversations and they're probably the only kids in their grade that know about the problems in the West Bank. The only thing I've ever skipped over was the bit about Khundunese neighbours switching family members. Everything else just got talked through as it came up.

Edit: And they all watch friends. But, then again, if you're watching Criminal Minds, Friends starts to seem a bit tame by comparison.

[cantbesilent]

oh my god. thats hillarious/depressing. youth. Its interesting how children have no perception of time, anything before the year they were born was a million years ago. I sub little kids sometimes and if I told them I was born in 85 I might as well be telling them I knew George Washington or something!

My peers and I still all talk about the same shows the next day, even with TiVo and the web and stuff. Watching it later just isn't the same!

[ilovehulajosh]

There's a group you need to join on Facebook.

It's called "When I was your age, Pluto was a planet" ;)

[allie83]

omg I just choked on my Diet Coke, that is classic lmfao