MTV, VH1..Hot & Sexy Videos

[kakies]

Like I mentioned in a previous thread I will be having a 16yo girl and a 14yo boy visiting for 1 1/2mo. I am starting to wonder on how I will deal with the tv issue. I do not like those mtv, vh1 videos with all the boodie shaking and tity bouncing girls in panties all over. I do not wish to have that in my house and I would like to help them understand why I find it to be so cheap and degrading. I would like to help them see that human sexuality is suposed to be placed at a much higher level and that it is a beautiful thing but these videos just destroy that image and make such a special thing look dirty and free for all, kwim?

Their caretaker told me that she would like for me and dh to give them some advice on this subject because they only listen to their friends and some of them are already getting into bad situations because of sex.

I am thinking of blocking out these channels (we never use them anyway). Would it be wrong for me to do this? I truly find them offensive.

[cumulus]

Perhaps the kids could watch "The Merchants of Cool." A chilling PBS documentary on how the media controls, even owns, teen culture. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/. A quote from the show: "Today five enormous companies are responsible for selling nearly all of youth culture. These are the true merchants of cool: Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Universal Vivendi, and AOL/Time Warner.....They look at the teen market as part of this massive empire that they're colonizing. You should look at it like the British empire or the French empire in the 19th century. Teens are like Africa. You know, that's this range that they're going to take over, and their weaponry are films, music, books, CDs, Internet access, clothing, amusement parks, sports teams. That's all this weaponry they have to make money off of this market."

MTV is freatured quite a bit in the documentary and my teen was shocked at the size, scope and sophistication of the media's program to mold teen culture to their profit ends.

Those stations are blocked here and I think they should be generally blocked despite free speach concerns. We're talking about children here. A man inviting a child into a car for some candy would not, I think, be given free speach protection. Neither should the media.

[Midnight Mom]

Thanks for the link, I hadn't heard about that show. I will sit down with my teen dd, watch and discuss.

I do not have cable in my home for the very reason you are describing here. She gets enough sexy images and language from regular tv and radio. Boy I wish I could block some of the radio stations in our town. Those DJs are totally rude and crude. Not to mention the music...blaah

I thinks its perfectly acceptable for you to control what is watched/listened to in your own home...whether they are your kids or not. You can give them an explanation for why you don't allow that in your home. I bet you may be surprised by their reactions, sometimes we (society in general) give teens a bad rap. Although some deserve it.

[applejuice]

Get rid of any cable while they are visiting. Just control what they are watching by using movies on video or DVD.

[calgal007]

I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Music videos run the gamut from near-porn to near-genius. You have to sift the chaff from the grain, as with all things.