By Tom Stark, 03/03/12
Parkersburg, WV – Not too many years ago, you could turn on the TV and see a show that was rated PG or the equivalent in the television rating system and know that you would not be subjected to sex scenes, homosexuality, teenage trash-talking, and questionable relationships between teens living under the same roof.
Nickolodeon is a cable network that was originally targeting young children and, for the most part, presented reasonably decent kids programs that parents could count on to be relatively safe. Now, one of its offspring, TeenNick, has begun expanding the “envelope” of acceptability and exploding the definition of socially acceptable programming with the new season of “Degrassi.”
Degrassi can simply be described as a continuing series concerning the sex life of high school kids with occasional references to homosexual sex, indecent sex, locker-room sex talk, and now, relationships between step-brother and step-sister living under the same roof. Average, every day activities seem to always take a back seat. A recent article by Lauren Thompson from the Culture and Media Institute describes some of the goings on during the new season’s offerings. If you thought things were in the gutter last season, they are surely in the sewer now. Thompson’s insightful description of the general trend gives you some idea:
“‘Degrassi’ has a history of mocking traditional values, especially when it comes to sex. This was clearly shown when Clare determined if she was emotionally ready to commit incest by merely taking a quiz out of a magazine.”
The networks are constantly complaining about censorship while at the same time claiming that their programming simply reflects the popular state of society. At the same time they vehemently disclaim any suggestion that they have any influence on shaping societal norms to begin with.
About Nathan Cherry
Nathan Cherry is the chief editor and blogger for the Engage Family Minute blog, the official blog of the FPCWV. He serves also as the Regional Development Coordinator as a liaison to the pastor's of West Virginia. He is a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-religious freedom conservative. He is also a husband, father, pastor, author, musician, and follower of Jesus Christ.
making sure there is plenty of exposure to normalized alternative lifestyles vie media, web, and television. I can’t help but note that such confusion did not exist at a time when this so-called normalization via media was not taking place. Could it be that teens are confused about their sexuality because everyone living life on a screen is telling them to experiment and try alternative lifestyles?
