Post: Adult Shows Rank No. 1 Among Kids
Adult Shows Rank No. 1 Among Kids
Last week, NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ranked No. 1 among 2-11 year olds, according to Nielsen ratings.
Huh?
It airs at 10 p.m. and certainly isn't aimed at kids. But the younger set seems to really love TV dramas, and they're increasingly forming a core audience for shows like Lost, Vanished, Heroes, and Smith.
This trend presents two big challenges for parents:
- How can we monitor age-inappropriate programming when our kids can see shows previewed, rerun, and time-shifted? and
- If we do let our kids watch, how do we help them make sense of what they're seeing?
What are the kids watching? Cable networks have become notorious for running repeats of adult-oriented shows at all hours. New episodes of FX’s plastic-surgery drama Nip/Tuck air in the 10 p.m. hour, but additional showings run throughout the week, sometimes as early as 8 p.m. Long-running medical drama ER is now in syndication and often airs weekdays in most markets at 11 a.m. If there's a DVR in the house, original airtimes become even less relevant.
And then there's the Web. With more shows than ever available online this fall, even if parents make the decision to send kids to bed or change the channel to another episode of Zack and Cody, how do they monitor what their kids are watching when episodes of these excessively hyped new fall shows are available for free the next day on the Internet?
And it's not just episodes that are cropping up online. MTV -- which is specifically geared toward tweens and teens -- has seen great success with its Overdrive broadband site. At any time of day, kids can find video clips featuring reality show stars giving tours of their real-life living quarters and discussing the drama that ensued between them and other cast members.
Try these tips to stay on top of what your kids are watching:
- Find out which shows are hyped and preview them. If your kid wants to see some of the new fall series, find out which ones and watch them first. You never know what might upsetting to a child -- for instance, Heroes has lots of imagery of world destruction.
- Do your homework. Read reviews (we have all the new fall shows reviewed), and ask other parents.
- If you let your kids watch, keep them company. If you decide that your kids are mature enough for some TV content (and keep in mind that shows like CSI are grisly and Law and Order: SVU regularly features rape and killing of teens), it’s better to let them watch with you than have them watch adult programming unsupervised. Ask them whether they understand the adult themes, and give reality checks about dangers and age-appropriate behavior. Ask them why they wanted to see the show -- and if the answer is to be cool or part of an in crowd, discuss the social pressures they might be feeling.
- Break down the hype. All of the marketing that goes into launching a new TV show is a good lesson in helping kids understand how the TV industry creates appetites for their material. Point out trailers and their placement. Tell kids that networks are eager to make their content available online to appeal to a younger audience -- even if that content isn’t appropriate.
- Finally, don’t be afraid to turn off the TV if the show isn’t right for your kids. No one ever died by missing an episode of something aimed at an older audience. Your kid might not be the coolest one on the playground the next morning, but isn’t that better than having him or her exposed to content that's inappropriate at best and nightmare-inducing at worst?
There are 2 replies to this post
Date: October 7, 2006
It's shocking to me when my children's friends talk about watching shows like CSI that are graphic and gruesome. It can't help but desensitize them to violence and the last thing we need is more of that in our lives. Not this week especially.
Date: October 10, 2006
What a great statement about the culture of our time! And about the screwed-up Federal Communicatioons Commission rules banning certain shows or shows with adult-content to be relegated to late hours and soft fare--yes, I like my "Jeopardy"--to the 6 to-8 airtime. The ban is now meaningless, as you certainly shown by these shows aired at all times of day and night. And this tells us that, yes, our children are wise beyond their years and like a story told well and with a modicum of truth-telling. Remember, they are a forgotten generation growing up now, the first-born of a culture of Abortion Rights and a new medical industry that forgot the first rule of medicine: "First, do no harm." Our children and grand-children now look at the day to be lived, not the future to be built. Our beautiful, intelligent children are relegated to opportunities in fast-food restaurants, first jobs with companies that are headed with vicious and corrupt executives yearning to breath rich, and tax-laws which allow major companies to hire young people as temporary employees to avoid paying for pension and health benefits. Lok at the news from Washington, D.C. thnese past two weeks; a past President berates a seasoned news commentator for mentioning the fact that Al Quaeda struck and existed intact during his Presidency--and the Democratic hopes for voting success seemed suddenly radically diminished. Then the following days saw us learn that the man placed in a leadership position with the Pages' Program, was himself a sexual predator, and that was a fact seemingly ignored by the Republican Executives who control this great country. The race between Republicans and Democrats seem to alter spectacularly with the sound of an opening zipper, no news to our well-educated children.