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In its recent report to Congress on the accuracy of TV ratings and effectiveness of oversight, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) noted that the system has not changed over the past 20 years.
The system hasn't changed, but the content has dramatically changed. Content has so deteriorated that there is a phrase to describe it: "Content Creep."
The last decade defines how Hollywood has deceived parents.
Be informed. Be Aware.
Don't trust the government to look out for your kids.
As much as far-Left progressives want the government to be your children's nanny, don't trust them, because they are untrustworthy. Don't let them or Hollywood babysit your kids in front of your TV.
While the FCC claims there has been essentially "no change" in monitoring children's programming, Hollywood and the entertainment industry have been unloading on your children.
Content in kid's programming has skidded down the slippery slope.
The truth about kids' TV.
PTC, the Parent's Television Council on TV content ratings has been paying attention to TV for kids for a long time. Their analysts recorded and documented every instance of violence, sexual dialog, sexual actions, and foul language, and the content ratings assigned to each episode during the November, February, and May "sweeps" periods in 2007-2008, and again a decade later in 2017-2018 on prime time broadcast network television.
There was over 150% more violence and 62% more profanity on programs rated TV 14 in 2017-2018 than in 2007-2008.
A G-rated program seems to be a thing of the past.
The loss of innocence.
One News Now also read the report and said this:
In fact, more and more children’s programming is being produced for older youth audiences today than it was just ten years ago. “In February 2008, programs rated TV-PG outnumbered those rated TV-14 more than 2-to-1; in February 2018, TV-14 content outnumbered PG content in almost the same ratio,” the report announced.
And G-rated programming appears to be a thing of the past – even on networks previously regarded as kid-friendly. “There were no G-rated programs on Fox, CW or ABC – even though ABC is owned by Disney – in any of the ‘sweeps’ periods, in either 2007–2008 or 2017–2018,” PTC stressed.
Parents have reportedly had no forewarnings by television producers, networks and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they are exposing children to an increased amount of carnal/mature content in “kids’ programming.”
“Today’s TV ratings fail to reflect ‘content creep,” (that is, an increase in offensive content in programs with a given ratings), as compared to similarly rated programs a decade or more ago,” PTC pointed out. “Networks are packing substantially more profanity and violence into youth-rated shows than they did a decade ago; but that increase in adult-themed content has not affected the age-based ratings the networks apply.”
The assault has progressively become more purposeful.
WND noted that "examples of the material now being seen in kid's TV shows include a discussion about 'Teen Sex' as the theme for a parade float, with actors throwing condoms to the crowd; the visual image of a couple having sex; and the bodies of two 'vampires' hanging from a tree."
Industry experts have even conceded that producers purposely push the parameters to see how far they can go.
Back in April 2012, ABC writer/producer Nahnatchka Khan told the Hollywood Reporter, "We're all about pushing the boundaries."
And in 2014, Brett Baer, the executive producer of "New Girl" and other kid shows, admitted to the Hollywood Reporter that "We've given broadcast standards a run for their money."
Our kids have become more desensitized. Nothing shocks them--- moral outrage is gone.
What should we do?
Dr. Michael Brown pondered that in an article last year titled, "It's 2018 And Our Shame Is Dead," he said this:
Back in 2001, the morning of September 11, a youth pastor in Seattle hurried over to a local high school to speak with kids arriving for their classes. He was sure they would be quite traumatized. To his shock, most were nonchalant. What they saw on TV looked like a bad video game or a poorly produced movie. What’s the big deal.
He was shocked by their lack of shock. And that was in 2001. Since then the steady descent has continued.
The apostle Paul summed things up very well 2,000 years ago: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (Ephesians 4:18-19).
We just need to change the "they" to "we" and we have a fit.
Brown asks,
Do you remember when marriage really meant something? When couples didn’t freely have kids out of wedlock? When no-fault divorce didn’t exist? When a wedding required a man and a woman?
Do you remember when porn movies were only accessible at obscure adult stores and movie theaters? When 13-year-olds (let alone 8-year-olds) never heard of it? When the verb “sexting” didn’t exist?
Do you remember when elders were treated with respect? When TV heroes weren’t murderous criminals? When daytime shows demonstrated moral restraint?
In the early 1960s' pastor and evangelist Leonard Ravenhill wrote: "The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the church has lost its power to weep over it."
These are days in which the Church must rise and speak to the culture. There must be an awakening of our own conscience, a rekindling of our own sensitivities---we must put aside those things that so easily weigh us down.
Then our lights will shine brighter and we can illuminate a darkened world.
And the awakening must begin with me...And you.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Faithful.