Hi Everyone! My name is Brooke. I am married and have 2 beautiful daughters. May 09 will bring me a BLS degree. I am so excited and very ready!
Speaking of these 2 beautiful daughters of mine, there are aspects of the media today that scare me a little. While I don't want to be an overbearing mother and monitor my daughter's TV watching like a drill sergeant, I do want to be aware of what they are absorbing every time they turn on the TV. I remember the first time I had to stop my oldest from watching something. She was about 4 and she was watching cartoons one evening. I walked by the living room a few times and thought "She's Okay. She's watching cartoons". What I didn't realize until I sat down was that she was watching "Family Guy". While some adults may find this show funny, I was shocked to see it was completely inappropriate for my 4 year old to be watching. For the first time as a mom, I had to say "Honey, I don't want you watching this again". Luckily, she said "Okay" and turned it to Spongebob. Whew!
That was my introduction into the part of parenting that makes me have to monitor what they're exposed to and it's something I have to think about a lot. Right now, they are 3 and 8, so it's pretty easy. Their choices of shows and movies include anything generated by Disney and mostly animated things. But, this week when I watched The Exorcist for class, I did have to explain to my girls that they weren't allowed in Mommy's room while she watched that movie. It's just not something I was ready for them to see. I think it's hard to explain to a young child, especially my 3 year old, that what they're seeing isn't real. And, let's face it, walking in to see Reagan's head spinning around might be a little traumatizing!
It's very easy to see how pop culture affects children at very young age. Now that we have younger children in The White House, I've caught my 8 year old watching "The Early Show" diligently in the mornings as they talk about the Obama girls. Let's face it, the fact that The Jonas Brothers showed up at The While House is making every pre-pubescent girl in the US insanely jealous of those Obama girls!
Media doesn't affect just children either. Adults are affected as well. The media, in the form of magazines, commercials, movies and song, tell us what to wear, how to look and how much we should eat. Look at the diet fads that are constantly advertised on TV. When you think about how much of your life is affected by media, it's almost scary. Why is my house decorated the way it is...well, I saw it on HGTV. Why did I buy this sweater...well, the model in the magazine had it on. The media tells us what's popular...and more times than not, we listen.
The one website I check out a lot is http://www.msn.com/. I get news updates throughout the day at work and that particular site keeps me on top of all that's happening in the world.
