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Do you think there's too much sex on TV?

Dr. Markus responds to: In war on raunch, ....

Two amazing letters in one week?  Could it be possible that Dina Leacock lives under the same rock as the woman who was astounded that her HMO pediatrician wouldn’t see her child?  All one needs to do is watch television during the family hour to know that Hollywood has no clue as to what families need to watch.  What troubles me, and should trouble everyone, is that the hour from 8 until 9 is filled with stories of impotence, and lust and depravity.  What is even more troubling is that these same shows will be syndicated during the 6 o’clock hour next year.

Do you feel powerless?  Ms. Leacock’s trust that her boys will tattle on each other will only last so long.  I am a father of two boys as well.  Leniency was my credo, having been raised in a restricted environment.  However, controls were necessary due to the external influences my boys were exposed to.  When I saw one son imitating a particularly annoying TV character, that show was banned in my house.  When I saw MTV transition to a network of gangstas channel 35 was deleted from every set in the house.  I impressed upon my boys that video games were a waste of time, and they dedicated themselves to athletics and understood the importance of the educational process, although without the same pressures that my father brought to bare on me.

I am proud to have two sons who are collegiate scholar-athletes.  They are leaders among their peers.  Would they have turned out thus without parental controls.  I doubt it.  One must monitor the information they are fed, the friends they keep.  However, this is about the world “going to h*ll in a handbasket.”  When do you suppose an elder observer first said this about younger generations?  My guess would be during the Roaring Twenties.  How tame that era seems to the depravity we are forced to witness on a daily basis.

As a child of Woodstock, I know that protest can have successes when enough people ban together for a cause.  For that reason, I encourage everyone to visit an organization which I first became aware of through a full-page advertising campaign in the Philadelphia Inquirer a year or two ago.  

Parents Television Council has been successful in persuading the entertainment industry that for the good of all – the good of children especially – it should again become what it once was: a positive influence on American society.  Four children have been killed since January, 1999 by other children who were, according to published reports, mimicking wrestling moves they had seen on TV.  One child recently, at age 13, was sentenced to life in prison in Florida for the death of a young girl.  PTC has been successful in persuading some forty companies to withhold or withdraw their sponsorship of UPN’s vile WWF Smackdown.  

I encourage everyone to visit http://www.ParentsTV.org or to write them at P.O. Box 7802 Burbank California, 91510-9817.  Make your donations, but more importantly, get involved.  Write letters to advertisers and producers.  All the information is available in their newsletter.  Control your children’s viewing and listening.  Without them seeing that you mean business, what will your grandchildren be like?

Stephen J. Markus DMD