In a country where marriages end in a divorce almost 70% of the time, is MTV doing us any favors by showing their new show, Skins, on primetime TV? This is an interesting question. I didn’t see the show’s premiere the other night, but 3 million Americans did. I did however see some clips of the Americanized (British) show on the news this morning. The actors in the show, most of whom are 15-17, are shown in sexually implicit scenarios, at parties, half clothed, drinking, doing drugs, etc. Initially, I was stunned that a show could get away with all of that. Then I thought, oh yeah, it’s 2011. Next, I thought about how this show is simply portraying real life across America for certain teens – maybe not real life for the majority of kids in this town. However, there is life outside of La Crosse, WI. So, are television shows like Skins good for kids to see, or dangerous?
Most have heard the term, “knowledge is power.” I assume that knowledge means being informed and knowing about a lot of things. Nobody’s ever said that being ethical and moralistic was power – although I do believe them to be infinitely important. The thing about knowledge is that it’s not always the guiding and educated sort that we receive in a classroom or in conversation with an old friend. Sometimes bad or inappropriate information can serve to make us knowledgeable too. Oftentimes people can learn a great deal from making mistakes; we can learn from our mistakes and hopefully not repeat them.
I grew up in a fairly conservative family. We attended church every week, talking back wasn’t allowed, my sisters and I were held accountable for our actions; our parents rarely bailed us out if we (by “we” I mean, “I”) misbehaved in school or anywhere else. When I was in seventh grade, mine and the eighth grade classes went on a trip to what was called, “The Festival of Nations.” The trip was fun; I bought a cheap Grateful Dead necklace and a Dr. Seuss hat (that’s what the cool kids wore in 1996). We were there long enough to learn about other cultures: bocce ball, weird foodthings, lots of flags, etc. Anyway, on the way back to La Crosse, we stopped at a Hardee’s to indulge our carnivorous desires. After my friends and I had finished our processed food we proceeded to go outside and play hacky sack (that’s what cool kids did in 1996) until summoned back onto the bus. As we were walking through the parking lot, some high school punks decided to mock us – while jeering, they said something that I didn’t care for. So, I gestured to this group of ruffians with a hand signal informing them that I thought they were knuckleheads. My teachers saw this gesture and guess who was the knucklehead – ME. I am really glad that my mom came with on this trip because I got to sit next to her and feel her evil gaze for the whole ride back. This ride became, quite literally, the worst trip I’d ever been on. I felt like Brian Wilson when he described traveling aboard the Sloop John B.
ANYWAY, The Wonder Years, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place – teen dramas – were not supposed to be viewed in our house. I bought an album in sixth grade called, “Throwing Copper” by Live, and that was not allowed to be listened to in the house. Along with Guns and Roses, Collective Soul, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, and The Smashing Pumpkins. My best friend, Barry, couldn’t watch Seinfeld at his house and his Dr. Dre, Warren G, and Mase albums had nice hiding spots deep inside his Narnia-like bedroom closet. There was no swearing allowed – anywhere – detentions and soap were always at the ready just in case my tongue slipped. My parents once shut me in a closet for a while (I think for about a week) because I was tormenting my sisters. Our basement became my second home and getting spanked was a weekly event. My grandma was trained in self defense and wouldn’t hesitate to drop the hammer if need be. It’s safe to say that I’ve paid for most of the mistakes I’ve made in my life. MTV was not allowed and movies had to be age appropriate. I didn’t always follow some of these rules but this, for the most part, I knew right from wrong and only got in REAL trouble one time.
Back to these stupid TV shows. Truthfully, I don’t think that shows like Skins or even Glee are the problem. I think that they become problems when they become a reference point for a kid’s education. I used to think that being reckless was cool because I loved Brett Favre. This, of course, was when he was in the middle of his drug and alcohol addictions – throwing touchdowns and partying hard. My friend Justin has told me that most of what he knows he’s learned from TV (Justin is a very smart guy, too). Apparently, Skins is scheduled to go on with showing these kids live chaotic and immoral lives in order to eventually execrate this manner of living – which advocates that kids can learn from TV. But, if they don’t think that it’s wrong in the first place, will the viewers think – well, I hoped those characters learned from that. Or – Oh, that is so unfair! It’s not their fault! The problem with the oft unaccountable youth of America is that they don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore.
I don’t think that one show can have lifelong effects on someone. If that was the case, I would still channel my inner David Hasselhoff aka “Knight Rider.” I drive a black car, but that’s where it stops. The problem that I see in the immediate future is that our country is filled with broken homes; shows like Skins does nothing but promote a certain kind of recklessness as being normal, cool, and accepted. Without a firm understanding of right and wrong, shows like this only aid in the actions of a curious age group.
I worry about what it’s going to be like raising kids in the future. Going to and graduating college while looking for jobs provides enough to worry about. Then, one might consider the opportunity to marry, birth, and raise children. I’ll bet my parents thought the same thing about the world when I was born. MTV is evil, Billy Idol is the devil, cars aren’t made the same as they used to be, blah blah blah. I wonder how bad it will get. I wonder if the Ozzie and Harriet paradigm will ever be en vogue. I wonder if morals will ever take precedence again. I wonder if, as a society, we’ll implode until unrecognizable. Maybe Skins is a foreshadowing of what our society will predominately become? I think I’ll move to Ethiopia and adopt.
Viterbo University 