Posted on 05/06/2005 3:55:49 AM PDT by Crackingham
Forget about the "mommy wars," in which stay-at-home mothers were supposedly locking horns with their working sisters, at least in popular perception. What's really happening with American mothers of all stripes - from full-time homemakers to full-fledged workaholics, all income levels, all racial backgrounds - is worry about popular culture, and what feels like a tsunami of forces threatening parents' ability to impart positive values to their children, according to a new survey of more than 2,000 mothers. Moms report a cultural onslaught that goes far beyond Hollywood movies and TV, and into the world of the Internet, electronic games, and advertising.
"We heard mothers talking about the kind of hypersexuality that's out there, about violence and disrespect, about body image, all the things that are not exactly news, but cutting across a huge and diverse sample of mothers," says Martha Farrell Erickson of the University of Minnesota, lead researcher on the study, released by the Institute for American Values in New York. "What they would really like to see is mothers and fathers joining forces more effectively to take on some of these issues."
Politics did not come up naturally in these mothers' group conversations; they see the solutions more through the avenue of personal and community action, rather than dumping these problems on the doorstep of government. But there is a stark political fact that strategists from both parties are keenly aware of, and which could telegraph a major theme in the next presidential race: the "married parent gap."
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I'm relieved to see that parents are finally remembering that it is NOT all about them and their "needs", but about their children and the future. There may be hope for the country after all. Now if they follow up on this idea of taking charge of their own families, even if it means giving up the Junior League and the three extra cars in favour of actually spending time with their children -- at least enough time to be able to pick them out of a line-up, I will believe the tide has turned.
I think the authors are trying to telegraph a message to politicians. Translated: "Please don't use this as an issue because it is a huge winner and Democrats are on the wrong side of this issue. This in turn will hurt us as researchers who naturally support Democrats because of all the government money we receive to study the obvious."
Some of us parents have been worrying about this for a long time.
I have two 10-year-olds. Thanks to this culture, they are completely sexualized.
No matter how hard I tried, i could not stop it.
One time my kids and I were watching Animal Channel. They broadcast a female arousal pill commercial. I could not find the remote control fast enough.
Why is Animal Channel (supposedly a safe place for kid viewing) doing this?
Who made "Desperate Housewives" a number 1 show? mommys! Can't have it both ways, kids see through that.
Donate your TV to the Salvation Army.
Fire the babysitter?!
we don't do TV and homeschool...that sounds freakish, but we're not freaks. we wrestle, read, do puzzles, read more...play outside...read. it is a rigorous life, but a good one. and doesn't include most of the garbage out there.
Another reason to homeschool. Homeschooling may not stop it completely, but it sure does cut it down a lot.
Cultural onslaught, yes it is. My kids are 7 and I honestly do NOT know how we are going to pull through this culture and raise two happy healthy kids. Sometimes I wonder (for 5 seconds) what mothers will be facing 50 years from now? Those of 50 years ago surely could not have perceived today's situation.
I think this is why American religious devout are increasingly banding together in small groups. If you can hire a babysitter who believes what you do, then maybe you can trust her to not watch TV.
Sorry, I don't have any real answers. But I do think the Internet and TV are really dangerous for children under 16.
The world is a dangerous place for unsupervised, ungrounded, secretive and private children whose parents are afraid to teach them critical thinking lest they turn their gimlets on the parents.
Canada is intent on making the world a place where unsupervised toddlers can wander free of any corruption or any untimely knowledge.
Better to bring up your children so they will tell the babysitter "We're not allowed to watch that" and insist that she turn it off. And far better to teach them to read and question -- and take time to guide their questioning to a desire to do research rather than look in the back of the book for The Answer.
But hey, that would take time, and you gotta watch the GAME!
so, where have the panty-clad warriors been for the past two generations? [rhetorical question].
I assume you mean, "we homeschool, and don't do tv." Bravo. Did this for years. I wouldn't call it rigorous so much as real. Television is like a combination haunted house / Disneyworld experience. Can a person really deal with reality when engaging in that for multiple hours per day? Come to think of it, I might describe public school in a similar way.
Godspeed.
If you want to raise kids that grow up into virtual automatons, TV and public school are probably a good path to take. Either that or some oppressive cult -- again, similarities?
My children learned to think, to ask questions and find answers, to trust themselves, to manage their time, to get along with all sorts of people...to be, in other words, responsible human beings who contribute to the well being of society as a whole.
Godspeed.
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