babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Has America's Got Talent Gone Too Far?
It was announced on Thursday that Howard Stern will be replacing Piers Morgan on the popular NBC show America’s Got Talent. And parents? They reportedly aren’t pleased, especially the media watchdog group Parents Television Council.
America’s Got Talent has – in the past – been a show that anyone could watch. There are kids performing, watching and enjoying the show with it’s collection of singers, dancers and daredevils. But that may all change with the raunchy addition of shock jock Howard Stern. The PTC has said that this is just a “act of desperation for a flailing network.” They also said in a statement to TMZ that… Continue reading »
Everyone knows screen time for little ones is a big no-no. Right? Attention problems, behavior issues, epic battles with their siblings over the remote: the problems TV can cause for kids are legion. The AAP has just issued new media guidelines for parents stressing that not only should young kids watch no TV at all, you shouldn’t watch TV yourself when your kids are around.
What if all this stress about screen time for kids is just so much fearmongering? Do screens really hurt the kids who watch them? One Slate writer is questioning the research. He says his 1-year-old son loves screen time, and letting him have it makes their lives better.
Hey, Mamas! Want some peace and quiet while you read this article? Throw some cartoons on the TV for the kids and settle in. Don’t worry. It won’t rot their brains.
At least, it might not. We really don’t know. That’s because, according to blogger Jessica Gottlieb, most of the science showing harmful effects of TV on kids is junk. In a long post on her blog, she lays into the University of Washington research team that has done the bulk of the research on kids and television.
Why does Gottlieb care so much if kids are being warned off watching the tube unnecessarily? It’s not that she loves her screen time so much. It’s that she hates having massive guilt trips laid on moms. Doubly so if the guilt is grounded in false fears.
We hear a lot about the messages our little girls are receiving from the shows they watch on television these days. Their favorite programs feature all manner of bad role models. A self-centered and bratty girl (Hannah Montana), a lying and conniving girl (Wizards of Waverly Place) and a wealthy and dumb girl (Suite Life on Deck), just to name a few. But what about the boys? What are they watching and what are they learning from their favorite fictional characters?
According to new research from University of Massachusetts-Boston, our boys aren’t faring much better than our girls when it comes to what they are exposed to through television, books and movies. Superheroes in particular are giving them bad ideas about what it means to be a man. Continue reading »
Dora the Explorer, the beloved star of Nickelodeon’s hit cartoon, turns ten this Sunday. And while her preschool-age fans might not know it, this backpack-toting, adventure-loving girl is truly one of a kind. Continue reading »
Just when we thought the Palin family circus couldn’t get more tawdry, Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson have announced their intentions to get married on live TV.
They’re also shopping “several” reality show concepts around Hollywood. Their plan: do a reality show about “parenting issues”. You think these two might know something about that?
Now, in their defense, these kids have barely dipped their toes into the waters of adulthood. They can’t be expected to exercise solid judgment, let alone tact, when it comes to knowing what they should or should not do on national television.
But where are their parents? Oh, right. Making a spectacle of themselves on TV.
It started out innocently enough. A few years ago, I watched a couple of hours of Disney Channel programming to make sure that what my kid was watching was appropriate. You know, “Suite Life,” “Hannah Montana” and all those other silly shows they love so much. I didn’t particularly enjoy them, but as a parent it is my responsibility to know what she’s watching, right?
But then, Nickelodeon got in on the act. I sat down to watch “iCarly” and something happened. I stopped rolling my eyes and started actually enjoying the show. It was well-written and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. That’s when I realized that tween TV had changed. Continue reading »
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
2