Hey parents, remember when actress Charlotte Ross' buns got their seven seconds of fame on NYPD Blue? And when Cher and Nicole Ritchie blurted out curse words at live awards shows? Well it's official: They got away with it. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the FCC to fine broadcasters for those fleeting moments of nudity and profanity.
But that was then and this is now. The Supreme Court did NOT rule on whether it's okay to fine broadcasters for nudity and profanity in the future. They said the FCC could make new rules about that, you know, whenever. Which brings me to this question: What are parents supposed to do in the meantime?
Just to be clear, the Supreme Court's ruling had nothing to do with parenting or morality. This comes down to a technicality -- something to do with the FCC not giving networks enough notice before fining them ... bla bla bla.
More from The Stir: Television for Toddlers: Even When It's Good It's Still Kind of Bad
Anyway, now it's an open question. The FCC can make new rules about brief profanity and nudity during prime time. But some folks say that's just more government intrusion. Like, why can't parents just not let their kids watch the bad stuff, or something. It's your responsibility!
ORLLY? Let's imagine a world where broadcasters are allowed to do whatever the hell they want.
Your kids go to bed at 8:00. You turn on your grown-up TV show. Your 3-year-old can't sleep and sneaks into the living room just as someone streaks across your screen in their birthday suit.
Or: You let your 8-year-old Gleek stay up to watch the Emmys. Darren Criss lets loose an F-bomb.
Or: A real-life example, that time before cable TV was regulated and my young siblings and I stumbled upon full-frontal strip tease at 2:00 in the afternoon. Yes, that happened. No, our parents never found out. Yes, we were kind of freaked out to learn grown-ups take off their clothes for each other just for fun.
So now you have to have one of those conversations with your kid. And you find yourself saying, "I know I said that word, too, last Friday, and I shouldn't have." Or you say, "Well, the human body is beautiful, but in our family, we kind of like to keep our private parts to ourselves because, um ... (???)"
Ugh. You know what? I know times are changing. And I don't want to go back to the days of Leave It to Beaver. But I am also not so desperate for one of those "I'm the Only Person Responsible for Raising This Child" medals of honor that I can't appreciate a little bit of help from the FCC. I mean, rules need to be clear and a little more liberal. But I'd still like there to be at least some baseline of acceptability on prime time television.
Should the FCC have rules on profanity and nudity for prime time television? What should those rules be?
Image via woodleywonderworks/Flickr
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Comments 37
YES, THERE SHOULD BE RULES. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ALL THE VALGER WORDS OR SEE ALL THE NUDITY THAT IS ON TV, AND I SURE DON'T WANT MY KIDS TO. YES I MONITOR WHAT LITTLE TV THEY SEE AT HOME BUT I 'M NOT ALWAYS WITH THEM AT THEIR FRIENDS HOUSE OR THE GRANDPARENTS FOR THAT MATTER. AND THEY HAVE "SNUCK OUT" OF BED BEFORE WHEN MY HUSBAND AND I ARE WATCHING TV.
I ALSO DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT KIDS CARTOONS USE CURSE WORDS (ON TV AND IN MOVIES). YOU THINK YOU ARE SAFE WITH DISNEY OR PIXAR BUT YOU ARE NOT.
Its MY responsibility to parent my children and make sure what they are watching is appropriate by MY standards...its not for anyone else, least of all the government, to decide.
How about get over it and parent your child. It is not the responsibility of ANYONE else to sensor the world but your own.
If you are going to watch tv with questionable content, you are taking the risk that your child could see and question it.
only thing we watch is food network , what not to wear , 4 weddings
I feel it's better to let kids see and hear these kinds of things and then discuss with them what you feel is appropriate for them to say and do. Keeping kids sheltered from every little thing is not going to do them any good.
Unless it's a graphic sex scene, I wouldn't have an issue if my kids saw a moment of nudity on tv. They see me dash from the shower to the bedroom to answer the phone, for instance, and have emergenced unscarred from the experience! Same with profanity- they know there are bad words, they know that there are rules about them and consequences if they say a bad word at school or something like that, and they can live with the rules or face the consequences of that choice. I know what my kids are watching and don't watch things that I think are inappropriate for them when they're around. And honestly, the things I find inappropriate are things that are scary and violent, not brief nudity or an f-bomb being dropped.
Yay, just what we need, more government interference in our parenting! I, for one, would prefer to let my child be exposed to a little nudity (not gratuitous sex scenes) so that we can open the dialogue about what is and is not appropriate. Same goes for "bad" language, it opens the door to communication. What I don't like is excessive violence and any language that is really hurtful, such as racial/religious slurs. But AGAIN, if she were to see or hear this, I would use it as a learning experience for what is and is not appropriate. Because, that's my job as a parent, to teach my child to live in a society that is not all bad, nor is it all good.
i agree that tv has gotten a bit...well...racy..lol but you also should be resposible for your own child. i dont want to have less of the tv i want because some lazy butt doesnt wanna pay attention to their child. its a difficult subject. also want to point out that my lazy butt comment is not directed at people who dislike tv its for those lazy butts that want everything to be done for them instead of doing it themselves. as for tv for my children i know i cant hide them from everything and if theyre going to see something racy or hear something bad id rather it be in my home where i can correct and explain the behavior to them versus them seeing it at a friends or hearing it at school. i do have to add though that in my case im very frank with my children and taught them the correct names of their body parts and answered any questions they had about their bodys very honestly buut to the point where they could understand as well.
Parents and the Morality Brigade need to get their panties out of their twats and just deal with it. After a certain time in the evening, it's adult time. So damned what if Junior catches 3 seconds of ass crack. Not the cable company's problem. Not the network's problem. Either don't have cable or restrict your viewing to the Hallmark channel.