TV junk pollutes young minds
Have you ever noticed the little tag line across the top of some television schedules which says: We cannot be
“
held responsible for incorrect information supplied by the channels ”?
They re simply telling you they just
’
don t trust the people who compile the
’
schedules. And can you blame them?
After five tedious months of lockdown, I ve learnt that what appears in
’
print is very often not what you get. Why this incompetence?
And who is responsible for content and the increasing flood of violence, sex and bad language inflicted upon the nation?
One evening last week, we watched a new and exclusive show, on prime
“”
time mind you, about family life in a leafy city suburb in England.
On the face of it, perfectly innocuous.
Set among manicured lawns, neat tree-lined streets, nice houses and what appears to be ordinary people - until you hear the language!
Is this really the way people speak nowadays?
Or maybe you are following a particular series and looking forward to the next episode, only to find that it has been summarily axed, just like that.
Or a programme is randomly
interrupted to run mindless advertising, mostly patting themselves on the back. And the repeats! I have been on more reruns with Jeremy Clarkson s Top Gear
’
than I ve had hot breakfasts.
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I ve never been very good at Roman
’
numerals so I have to ask my wife Naomi occasionally to tell me when a certain programme was made.
If she says three or four years ago, I am relatively happy as a lot of what is thrust upon us was made at least 10 to 20 years ago.
For this some are paying more than R900 a month!
Perhaps as we get older we become less tolerant of today s way of life but to
’
my mind there is far too much foul language, sex, violence and bloodshed.
You see it in films, the news and even in sitcoms.
Some children s cartoons too, depict
’
unnecessary cruelty. And what type of effect must the unreal lifestyles in the soap operas have on impressionable youth?
Though safety checks and blocking mechanisms have been introduced over the years, many parents still seem to let their children watch anything they like.
There is nothing constructive to be achieved by piping scenes of sadistic violence into thousands of homes day in and day out and subjecting young minds to continuous exposure of whatever is offered on the screen.
There has to be plenty of material available for public enjoyment and instruction which does not involve the casual use of dangerous drugs, brutality, foul language and pornography.
And now, if you ll excuse me, I m off
’ ’
to watch another episode of
Deal for the third or fourth time.