Some blather and a note on thinking deeper when it comes to kids

The time I set aside for writing seems to have vanished. I have the beginnings of three stories on the go and one in the rewrite stage. Instead of pecking away at my keyboard I spent the time at a festival type of thing for kids with my daughter. You probably know the sort of thing: stalls and activities designed to part children from their parents' money. We have a fair amount of brand loyalty on the go tonight.

For about a minute, I turned into a raging conservative. Here's what happened...

As the stage was warming up, the MC's crew began to play music. Obviously the thinking was, let's have music to build a bit of buzz and get the festive spirit going. The problem was the music. There is something fundamentally wrong with playing certain types of songs to kids.

The upshot was I puffed up my chest and stormed over to register my objection. Not thinking about the lyrics is not so great. No, we don't brush our teeth with a bottle of jack, damnit! And what is that stuff about 'touching my junk'? It doesn't belong among the jumping castles.

• No I am not naive.
• Yes, I know kids will be exposed to it elsewhere.
• Should that be accepted in an environment designed for kids?

Wherever I look, there is a lot of opining about 'kids of today'. There is no point in saying anything if kids are exposed to the 'media of today'. There are chances to preserve the innocence of kids and teach them things that they need to know in later life, but if we expose them to pop culture targeted at adults, all of that is about as effective as puffing at a dandelion seed head in a hurricane.

Think deeper.

The media to which kids are exposed is pervasive. Exercising certain choices on their behalf is important. So is insisting on a certain quality in environments targeted at kids. Kids learn things at a young age and form their behaviour quite indiscriminately. They absorb ideas like sponges.

The glowering crew behind the computer, mixing desk and amps pulled the Nuremberg Defence. 

"But it's what they asked for."

They kept a close watch on me as they played the few child-friendly selections they had. As soon as I left the field, the other music picked up again. Sad that they could only see it as an imposition.

It's a shared responsibility. The MC and his crew, the organisers and the participants should have thought about it before it happened. It's not just about parting kids from money, brand exposure and sport.


That's just the adult media.

Kid's media needs a bit of scrutiny as well. Many of the protagonists on shows developed for kids treat adults as objects of derision. Violence is routine, apparently suitable for kids because it is portrayed in a cartoon format. Note that this is not slapstick. The message of many shows is that violence is the solution to conflict.

We can't complain about 'kids these days' if we give our tacit consent to the things that teach them that violence and risky behaviour are the norm.