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Monday, November 3, 2008
News Excuses for poor parenting
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:36 PM
People always say how hard it is to be a parent. But I have to wonder if that is true.
Two studies were released today that basically give parents a pass for their children’s bad behavior.
First there’s the news that if your teenage daughter watches a lot of sexually explicit shows on TV, she's going to have a baby.
Actually, I thought if she did sexually explicit things she’d have a baby. But that’s just me.
Has it gotten so bad that parents don’t talk to their children about the images they see on TV? Parents don’t tell their kids that sex is more than moments of pleasure and it can lead to a lifetime of responsibility? (What do you say, Sarah?)
A central message from the study is that there needs to be more dialogue about sex in the media, particularly among parents and their children, said Anita Chandra, the study's lead author and a behavioral scientist at RAND.
"We know that parents are busy, but sitting down and watching shows together with their teen, talking about the character portrayals, talking about what they just witnessed, and really using it as a teachable moment is really, I think, a good recommendation from this research," Chandra said.
Did parents really need a scientist to tell them to talk with their children? Here’s an even better idea, turn the television off and hand that child a damned book. And while your kid is reading, why not read it also?
As if this study wasn’t bad enough, parents now have an excuse to explain little Joshua’s violent behavior.
About 90 percent of U.S. kids ages 8 to 16 play video games, and they spend about 13 hours a week doing so (more if you're a boy). Now a new study suggests virtual violence in these games may make kids more aggressive in real life.
Are you kidding me? Here’s another example of parents letting technology raise their children and “science” excusing the results. If this is the future, we’re all in deep shit and a bunch of parents are off the hook for fucking up their children—who didn’t ask to be here!
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