Do you have strong views on whether computer games, TV, junk food and academic pressure are impacting today’s children?  The ABC’s 7:30 Report may want to hear from you.
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Back in March, my post Where does the TV your ch…

Shattered Shards Scattered; Satirical Scripts Shredded!
Really angry tonight! At the end of tonight’s episode of The Glass House, Wil Anderson announced that the year’s final episode on November 29 would be the last Glass House ever.  …

I would add Dateline and Enough Rope to the blue section.

The sad thing about Big Brother is that it could easily be made more interesting by combining it with aspects of, say, the Stanford Prison Experiment.

As a general rule, I think that television is bad for you. The messages it transmits are created as to appeal to the basic instincts of people. In other words, the messages are simple, they are black and white, they are not stressful. It is thus soothing to human nature, which generally does not want to embrace the complex naunces that are part of any real life situation. It’s a biologically satisfying imitation of life.

Unfortunately, I suspect that human beings are subject to GIGO. If you watch too much television, GIGO particularly comes into play. Life becomes like the television - simple, black and white, lacking subtleties.

I have nothing to back this up and am foaming at the mouth.

More importantly, I am going to a Mark Seymour gig tonight. Woot

We’re looking for families to interview who have strong feelings about this issue - you might agree with Sue Palmer and try to ensure that your children aren’t exposed to ‘junk culture’.

Or you may think it’s all a bit of a beat up and think your kids are resilient enough to survive what the 21st century throws at them.

If you’d like to take part, please email Lesley Robinson, Producer at the 7.30 Report on: robinson.lesley @ abc.net.au or phone 0408 970500

I quite agree that throwing out the television isn’t the best idea, moderation is. The best thing to do is simply have a house rule that states no turning on the television unless there is something you want to particularly watch, that isn’t junk like Big Brother, or a soapie. So many kids that channel flick which instantly tells you they’ve already been snared by the box.

As for shows, I only watch:
SBS World News
ABC News
Cutting Edge
Foreign Correspondent
7:30 Report
Inspector Rex (because we’re German ).

with every-so-often:
Simpsons
4 Corners
ABC Documentaries
Futurama (I can’t get my hands on the DVDs)
and lately, Supernatural

As for movies, I’m quite a fan of the foreign films on SBS. I very, very rarely watch a movie on any of the commercial channels (7/Prime, 9/Win, 10).

Though don’t take this as an average kid’s tv watching preferences. Very few of my school mates ever linger on SBS for more than a few seconds when channel flicking.

Cheers,
Pascal

Hmm… Now that you got me thinking. “…tried to legislate morality” or “observed a down-turn in morality”? Which of these came first?

But don’t get me wrong; I’m far from a religious fanatic. (Maybe I watched too much “Gunsmoke” as a kid?)

Personally, I don’t care what religion, if any, anyone espouses, as long as it involves treating ALL humans with respect. Many of this planet’s problems have arisen because some of us choose to use religion as a tool to attack or manipulate others.

History shows us that Roman civilisation collapsed when it tried to legislate morality (i.i., made Christianity its state religion). TRUE decadence cannot be eradicated by pseudo-morality.

Although it can become a little bit repetitive for me