After her daughter started acting up, one mother spent a day watching some of the girl’s favorite Disney shows, from start to finish, looking for answers:
I could not be more horrified.
Parents. Are you watching this garbage?
I certainly had not been. Beyond the quick minute or two, I had never sat and watched an episode of A.N.T Farm with the girls. Because it is Disney. How the hell do you go from Doc McStuffins, a show that SAVED ME countless tears at the pediatrician’s office, to this absolute trash? I so very wrongly figured that a company like Disney would not be promoting cruelty, bullying and sexism in their shows for young, impressionable children. I was completely mortified as I watched.
These shows are laced with terrible social behavior. Like the scene in one, where a “nerdy” boy walks up to a pretty “popular” girl and asks her out… she threw her bowling ball and ran away screaming. *Cue audience laughter*
There were so many examples of rude, mean responses to difficult social situations for kids, followed by the character shrugging it off, recorded laughter, and the characters moving on without showing any realistic emotions. No anger, no hurt feelings. Comedy.
I was disgusted. How in the world will we teach our children to be kind and put a stop to cruel behavior in schools when THE DISNEY CHANNEL is showing these bullying behaviors followed by laughter and no emotional response??? It was clear where my daughter had gotten the impression that these kinds of conceited one liners and arrogant vanity was playful and a harmless way to get a laugh.
[...]
After picking up the kids from school, my girls and I sat and re-watched these shows. I wanted to gouge my eyes out. As we watched, I paused it every single time someone said something cruel, every time the fake audience laughed inappropriately at what in real life would be someone’s serious emotional pain. We talked about what would actually happen if you acted like that with your friends, and how you can’t repair things by declaring “Just KIDDING!”
[...]
As a parent, when the kids are watching t.v., it’s mostly because I need a moment. To make dinner. To help someone else with homework. To gather my sanity. These few examples permanently damaged my trust in the Disney Channel and the trash they are producing for our kids.
Yes, indeed. And this is from a mother who appears to be perfectly OK with what Miley Cyrus has become.
Would like to read what a NRx mom (or heck, even a normal mom from the 50s) might say.
The simplest and most appropriate solution is simply to not pay for cable TV.
The kids will be playing outside or reading books because that’s what’s available.
(Buying your 10-year-old an iPhone should not even be a topic of discussion.)
Agreed. Keep the garbage out of the house, and the kids won’t have a chance to play in it.
Any roundhouse ass kicking girls on the show too? It’s scary how the lines between femdom porn and pop culture blur each passing day.