This post is going to show how old and fuddy-duddy I am! Hey, at least I'll admit it. :-)
Most of my readers have probably heard of Hannah Montana, and if you haven't, she's a teen actor/singer sensation. She stars in a tv show, in which she plays a singer whose identity is secret from the rest of her life. In real life, she also travels around giving concerts at which she performs as her character "Hannah Montana". Confused yet? I'm not sure which came first, the real life concerts or the tv show (I think it was the tv show but someone correct me if I'm wrong).
She came to our city a couple months ago in the dead of winter, and there were tween and teen agers (along with their shivering parents) lined up around the ticket booth for DAYS before the tickets went on sale. I'm not kidding!
Our children have heard of her and have been very curious about her. Some of their friends are huge fans. I have seen her interviewed a few times in real life and she seems like a pretty normal kid with her head screwed on straight, which is saying a lot about anyone from hollywood. So for the last two Saturdays our family has watched her show. As a person, I liked it. As a parent, I didn't. There was quite a bit of kissing, lying, deceiving, and sneaking going on. There WAS a moral to the story at the end, and a good teachable moment, but I felt it was lost by all the junk that had gone on in the previous 28 minutes.
I feel that my kids are too young to see young people kissing. They just don't need that imagery. Seeing us, their parents kissing is different. I would prefer they think of a married kiss when they think of kissing, and not a teenage crush kiss. I know they will see and hear about that soon enough, but not yet. It's just not necessary. And for the record, it was her older brother who was kissing on the show, not her.
We had a good conversation about it with our daughter. After we explained our concerns, she said she could see those things too. She said the next time we watched it she'd try to look for those things that were inappropriate or "bad". So we've decided to watch it with her a couple more times and then make a decision as to whether or not it will be part of her regular tv diet. I'm leaning towards no, but there may be a larger value here in teaching her to analyze the shows that she watches. And there also may be a larger value in teaching her there are times when it's worth it to stand alone. We shall see.
Again, I'm so glad for the wisdom God gives! (And please don't take offense if this is something your family enjoys!! Every family is different, and since this is my blog I get to write about ours). :-)
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5 comments:
i've seen bits and pieces of the show. i've heard that in real life she is a Christian (don't know if that is true) and it sounds like her parents are parenting her wisely given the manic popularity she has.
the thing i'm not crazy about on the show is the disrespect btwn the siblings. usually by the end of the show, they are friends again... but it just bugs me.
my kids are all older now, but i get to do this all again pretty soon- ugh!!!
i'm glad all my girls watch now is Curious George & Clifford!
I've seen the name in stores. We don't watch much tv. We rarely have a clue as to the latest hottest thing! Last spring we went to the river parade for Fiesta and long story short, I was apparently standing next to a very famous person...a young, skinny knock out in high heals all done up. Everyone was getting their picture taken with her (I wonder if I am in some of the shots) and I think I heard American Idol or one of those things. Clueless...that's me! ;)
Blessings,
Laurie
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject. I am aware of the current popularity of "Hannah Montana" while our children are still young and not aware of that yet. The time is fast approaching when they will be, and I hope to continue to be aware as a parent so that I might better teach might children with the help of the Lord.
I have not seen the show and so appreciated your "two cents worth" on that topic. Mine are still in the "Curious George" & "Clifford" stage too, and even that is watched on a limited basis around here.
In defense of the show (imagine, me defending the show after what I said in my post!), there was only kissing in one out of the two episodes we've seen so far. I'm curious what we'll see this Saturday. The first time we saw the show, it was about Hannah learning not to use her "power" and popularity as a singer to diss another girl at school whom she did not get along with. It was a good message. I'd be a little less concerned if our kids were older, as I think the appropriate target audience should be 14-15 year olds (14 is Hannah's age on the show, and she's 15 in real life I believe). Unfortunately, girls as young as preschool and lower elementary are going ga-ga over it, and it's just too old for that age. There's another two cents for ya! I'm also going to watch her older brother on the show to see if he consistently deceives and/or disobeys. So far we're two for two in that department.
Interesting.. thanks for sharing.
I have been wondering who/what Hannah Montana is. When I work the 5 yo class at church the little girls talk a lot about her, and her show.
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