Confessions of a Blogaholic

I am SO TIRED of the way teenagers are portrayed in popular TV shows. Let me break it down for you a little bit...

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: You cannot watch more than three minutes of the show without hearing some reference to sex, oral sex, and having babies. Even the once-modest, uber-Christian characters gave in and had sex several seasons ago. Yes, the basis of the show was the initial pregnancy, but since she had the baby, we've hardly seen the little one. In fact, Amy has been able to continue her life as planned (pretty easily, I should add) because of the help of her family and a plethora of babysitters. Is this real life? No. While I'm not in denial that teenagers have sex (I think the current statistic is 50% of 14 year olds have done so), the fact that unprotected sex by teens is seemingly held as both normal and expected by shows like this exacerbates the problem. If they think it's normal and ok, they will do it.

The Vampire Diaries: First, I should say that I love this show. I love it because I know all of the actors are in their 20's, so I don't feel like such a teeny-bopper watching it. These 20-somethings play high school students, which you know, is fairly normal nowadays; HOWEVER, at every party they attend, they are always drinking. Drinking so much so that it is easy to forget they are playing teenagers. Shows such as this one make drinking seem completely normal, like it's expected at high school parties. I did not drink in high school, and again, while I accept that I am in the minority, I think making drinking look normal exacerbates the problem. It is not only NOT NORMAL for all teenagers to drink, it is also ILLEGAL.

Finally, Pretty Little Liars: This show is definitely my new secret addiction, and it is SUCH a teeny-bopper show! My issue with this show is how bitchy the group of girls is. I have come to my own conclusion that there is no human being worse than a teenage girl. There is something that happens to them that makes them go from "Mommy's little princess" in one moment to "Evil backstabber" the next. Teenage girls are awful. Their drama is awful. Their aggression and inability to control their feelings is awful. However, again, shows like this cause the problem to get worse. Teenage girls who watch this show might think it is completely normal to be aggressive and outright mean to others. Instead of retaining what semblance of emotional control they have, teenage girls might give in to their aggression/emotions completely to be like the girls in this show.

But, I'm also disturbed by shows like Huge, which make it seem like it's ok to be overweight. Unfortunately, normal in the U.S. is overweight these days, and I am a member of this majority. But we hear more and more about 1 in 3 children having diabetes. When that is the statistic, we should be doing everything we can to set better food and exercise standards for our kids. I certainly need to jump on this bandwagon as I should be setting a better example for both my students and Rylee. Shows like Huge make obesity look ok. They make fat seem normal and fun. Shoot, if I want to go hang out at fat camp over the summer I have to be fat, right? Why not eat that extra Twinkie.

Basically, I'm just saying it's no wonder we can't get our kids to live better, be more self-confident, and treat each other and the rest of society better. There are no good examples of teenagers on television--there is nothing for these kids to base their lives on!