Filed under: Commentary

Siohvaughn "has embarked on an unstoppable and relentless pattern of conduct for over two years to alienate the children from their father, and lacks either the ability or the willingness to facilitate, let alone encourage, a close and continuing relationship between them," said the court's papers.

The problem is, Siohvaughn is far from the only woman to pull the stunt called Parental Alienation. PA is a very common tactic used by women like Siohvaughn who have no problems manipulating, distorting or trying to dissolve a father's bond with his child.

In typical cases of PA, visitation after visitation is denied repeatedly and both parents are consistently in and out of court. In the most extreme cases, one day the father wakes up to learn his child has been relocated to another state or country--without approval or notification. This is a form of kidnapping. But the crime rarely goes punished.

Several years can go by before the child is found and at that point, the child will have grown up not knowing or being able to bond with the father.

For some reason people don't think this hurts men. But no man wants to be separated from his children.

I know this first-hand. For five-and-a-half years, I was separated from my two daughters, then ages five and three. During that time, there were no two hours within a given day when I didn't feel the pangs of loneliness in my heart caused from not being able to take part in my daughters' daily lives. I had anxiety attacks. I cried thinking about how my daughters were doing, how they were growing and what they were experiencing. But more importantly, what I was missing.

From the moment of their birth, my daughters captured a piece of my heart that was quite different from the love I have for my eldest son. I'm not going to say I love the girls more than my boy, but I protect them in a different way.

Ironically a similar bond didn't develop between their mother and I. And because of the tumultuous relationship with the mother of my children prior to her disappearance, I asked for joint custody and received it.

Then the games started: on the days I was scheduled to see my daughters, she wouldn't allow me to; she stopped answering her phone. Then she disappeared with my daughters. For years, I unwillingly played her game of "Where in the world are my kids today" as she moved them out of state, changed numbers and schools without notification and tried to block my every move to see the girls I helped give life to.

Taking her to court didn't stop the crime from being repeated, however. The system provides no penalties, no judgments or liens against mothers who practice severe cases of PA. Ceasing to pay child support, however was the first step to correcting what was wrong. It took two years of not paying child support for her to resurface--albeit to take me to court for not paying child support. I am now seeking full custody of my two girls and saw my girls for the first time several months ago.

How hard is it for a man to establish custody? The bias against the father dates back to the 1800s from what's known as The Tender Years Doctrine, which determines that children under the age of five would be better off under the care of their mother. Even though many states have since moved to the "best interest of the child" as the basis for all decisions, many courts still function under that "tender years" mentality, routinely awarding immediate custody to mothers regardless of any other factors.

That's why Dwayne's ruling was so important to fathers like me. It meant that the court finally recognized a mother's unwillingness to co-parent and actually did something about it. The reasons a man should have custody are the same for a woman. This allows him to make decisions on schools and doctors and grants him access to the child's medical records.

But the most important thing is that joint custody allows a man to play a role he has every right to--and one he wants to embrace.

The love you feel when your children are born is unbelievable. If you're not a parent, then it may be hard to understand that that love is greater than any wife, girlfriend, wife, or even your own parents. Everything becomes about that child... until someone takes him/her away - usually the family court following an angry woman's lead.

Once the wheels of the family court start working against you, it can be debilitating. The forced demand for child support, which is usually treated separately from any custody proceeding, alone can cripple the average man. Each state has its own guidelines for determining the amount of money to be paid in child support, but what is consistent throughout all states is that if you are poor - if you make $30,000 a year or less - child support will render you unable to take care of yourself.

In New York, for instance, child support automatically takes 17% of your gross salary. That's $5100 out of a $30,000 salary, leaving you with less than $25,000 out of which, you are paying tax on $30,000. There are no child credits for non-custodial parents on tax returns, although Obama is talking about changing that.

Now, consider that according to the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, 70 percent of people who are ordered to pay child support earn less than $10,000 per year. In other words, most people that don't pay child support don't pay because they can't afford it; not because they don't want to.

Which brings us to deadbeat dads. The media perpetuates this image of father who makes loads of cash and refuses to pay child support because he hates his ex-wife, doesn't care about his kids, or both; but the reality is, men want to be with their children from day one.

They can take so much money that you can't afford a place to live or to have a car and you certainly can't afford to get married and have another family. It's all very emasculating and for many, once the world of enforced child support comes crashing down due to non-payments, it sends them into a deep depression.

This image is never shown on TV or talked about on the morning radio shows, but these men are listening when all the jokes are made. Sure guys will be loud about the injustices of the court system and how unfair child support can be, but they rarely talk about how hurt they feel inside because they cannot see their child. They never mention how hard it is for them not to be in their children's lives.

The way a parent loves a child is 100 times greater than any other love that exists. Gender has no stronghold on love for a child.

As more and more men pour into family court around the country protecting their rights to parent, maybe this Wade case will effectively start swinging the pendulum the other way.

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A new study by Christopher Ferguson at Texas A&M University once again showed no causal link between violent game play and actual overt violent or aggressive behavior. Ferguson is a name you should know, as he is one of a handful vocal academics who look beyond laboratory effects studies and who look towards social and personality factors as the main causal factors for aggressive behavior, instead of video games.

In this study, a final sample of 302 youths aged 10 to 14 were drawn from a representative sample in a city with a Hispanic majority (97% Hispanic). 75% of them played video games regularly, 40.4% of which were violent games and 20.9% were M-rated games on the ESRB scale. 7.3% reported to have engaged in at least one criminally violent game in the last 12 months.

Results showed that current depressive symptoms were the largest predictors of actual aggressive or violent behavior. Video game violence however, was not a predictor for this behavior. Read on if you want a more thorough breakdown of this study for more insight into how these kinds of studies are performed.

Study design

The games part

For this study, Ferguson used the ESRB ratings as a scoring mechanism to rate games (6 = Adults Only, 5 = Mature, etc.). He then let a couple of research assistants play a sample of 10 games for about 45 minutes each, and let them rate the violence level on a 5-point scale. These assistants were not heavy games and hadn't played the games before.

The games in question were: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Call of Duty 4, F.E.A.R., Bioshock, Race Pro, Baja: Edge of Control, Sonic Unleashed, Spiderman 3, Silent Hill: Homecoming and Lego Indiana Jones. That's a pretty well-rounded sample of games. Keep in mind that studies can sometimes take a year before they are published, so these games were not necessarily "old".

The assistants rated these games independently, but scored them almost the same way. More interestingly, they showed a 98% correlation with the ESRB ratings, providing some support for the rating system in the process. A similar method was used for TV shows with the Parental Guidelines System, which provides ratings for TV shows, and similar results were found.

The children listed their 3 favorite TV shows and games and gave an estimate of how often they watch TV or play games. They were tested at two time periods to control for differences between periods.

Other measures

A number of scales measured factors like family environment, family conflict, negative life events and others. I won't go into detail to what they contain exactly, but let's run through them to give you a clearer picture of how such a study comes to its conclusions.

To measure the behavior of youths, the validated (that means it's good) Negative Life Events instrument was used. It measures things like neighborhood problems, how much time kids spend with their family, and how many of their peers are delinquents.

The Family Environment Scale is another reliable scale that can distinguish between functional and dysfunctional families dealing with things like substance abuse problems, physical abuse and psychiatric problems within the family.

A standard self-report questionnaire was used to measure depressive symptoms among children. It's your usual depression scale where people have to check statements like "I feel sad".

The child's primary guardian filled out the Conflict Tactics Scale, which measures how partners treat each other in a relationship (i.e.: using aggression during conflicts). This scale is used a lot in family violence studies. They also filled out the Child Behavior Checklist, which shows whether a child's behavior may be psychopathic in nature.

Finally, a bullying scale with statements like "In the past month I have forced another kid to do something they didn't want to do" was included.

That's a lot of scales! But unfortunately, you are often tied to that problem when doing a study like this. You can't just use three scales with one group and three scales with another, only to make some ridiculous claim afterwards. This range of used scales does show that violent game content is not at the center of the design. Ferguson's previous studies already provided evidence that aggressive personality is a key predictor of aggressive behavior, with family violence as a predictor for that personality trait.

A small amount of people who may act out violent behavior tends to have a reason for that. Media just offer a stylistic way to act it out "at best", it's not a causal factor that turns normal people into psychopaths overnight or over the course of 10 years.

Results

Other than 75% playing games, 40.4% of games being violent and 20.9% being M-rated, boys were also more likely to play violent games than girls although it was not a huge difference. Neither the age nor the GPA of the child correlated with video game "exposure". And neither did the amount of hours spent playing games predict their GPA. Too bad no child will have made it this far to read that, eh parents?

Crime and rule-breaking

Based on results from the Negative Life Events scale, only 22 kids (7.3%) reported they engaged in violent crimes, most commonly physical assaults or using force to steal objects or money (e.g., "That's a nice lunchbox you have there, i.e.: it's mine."). 52 kids reported they engaged in at least one non-violent crime in the last 12 months, most commonly minor shoplifting and thefts on school property.

Parents and children reports for rule-breaking were proven to be consistent. Although children did report higher levels of rule-breaking than their parents did. Then again, we always did more stupid things when were kids than our parents caught us doing, right?

Video games

There was a correlation between violent game exposure between the two measurements at the two time periods. Ferguson does state that: "... however, the effect size was small, allowing a considerable amount of variance across time in video game violence exposure, probably as children put away older games and pick up new games that are different in genre and violence content."

While correlation is never a predictor for actual behavior -- just like driving a red car doesn't predict you are a douchebag -- exposure to video game violence proved to have no correlation with actual rule breaking, aggression or crimes. However, a small correlation was found with bullying (18%). Correlations don't predict anything though.

Depression

Although video games showed another analysis found no predictive effect on any measured behavior, while some other factors did. Depressive symptoms were a strong predictor of aggression (beta = .66) and rule-breaking (beta = .62). Peer delinquency and interaction between depressive symptoms and antisocial personality traits both also had a predictive effect, although it was a smaller one (beta = .12 to .15 range). Just imagine this beta to be like a multiplier of sorts for your total score; a psychopath will hopefully have a bigger multiplier based on his psychopath scores than you will.

A strong attachment with family was actually a negative predictor for violent crime, meaning that having a close family helps a bit with your child not becoming a delinquent. And although bullying was significantly (as in: true for 95% of the cases) correlated with video game violence, this was not a predictor for bullying. Instead, depressive symptoms and antisocial personality were once again the main predictors for bullying.

Conclusions

All in all, no predictive effects were found for violent games. Instead it's almost as if the people who act out violence are like actual human beings, instead of some passive sponge lifeform that just absorbs violent media and reacts like an automaton. Depression and personality, previous aggressive or violent behavior and a person's upbringing tell a clearer story about what makes people act out violently.

Of course you can always choose to not measure those things, but instead only measure a person's reaction time on pressing a button that you're told will release a loud noise blast to another participant. And if they do it faster and longer after playing a violent game, then obviously violent games turn our children into serial killers. Which in a nutshell summarizes the "violent games = violent behavior" studies that made it as far as a Congressional hearing.

It's exactly because some (methodologically unsound) experimental studies do find negative effects for violent video games, that we shouldn't just go "duh" or "Captain Obvious" whenever a study shows that people instead act pretty normal; something we may think should be common sense. Unless you disprove it, it can slowly trickle into policy or bills. We've seen it happen with previous "violent game bills".

Researchers like Ferguson and Cheryl K. Olson (author of Grand Theft Childhood) are among a small but growing group of researchers who do proper studies on video game effects. They are out there, but what major news channel wants to report on a not-scary story these days? Disproving a horror story about violent games is just not as exciting as telling parents that video games are addictive like crack, or that the Columbine shooter played the same games their kids played.

Good thing we have the Internet.

If you have access to scientific articles, this study can be found here or here. Another study by Ferguson, Olson, Kutner and Warner on violent games and bullying can be found here.

Ferguson, C. (2010). Video Games and Youth Violence: A Prospective Analysis in Adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 39

A public commission should be set up to discourage the teaching of highly questionable religious doctrines to young people

Religious ideas that are taught during childhood very often stick for life. Cursory reviews of the number of believers who come to faith during childhood or adolescence reveal this to be the case. According to research cited by the evangelical Christian group Youth for Christ for instance, 85% of Christians come to faith before the age of 23, with 15 the average age of conversion. Such figures should make the antennae of secularists twitch, for they suggest that taking on religious faith is often done by minors who are emotionally and intellectually vulnerable to the claims of adult religious authorities. Given the propensity of religious groups to inspire in young people long-term allegiance to their particular faith, questions also arise concerning the potency of the doctrine that religious institutions preach to youngsters.

A scrutiny of the youth evangelism strategies of one of the UK's largest faith groups, evangelical Christians, should give liberals serious cause for concern. Let us take as exemplar the work of Soul Survivor and Audacious, two large British youth evangelical organisations that run holiday camps attracting British youth in their tens of thousands. One striking aspect of these camps is the intensity of the doctrine that is preached and the zeal with which it is delivered. Leaders passionately inform children and teens of their conviction that evangelical doctrines, all of which are of course highly questionable when considered soberly, are absolutely true.

Children at Soul Survivor meetings have, for instance, been told that their generation can help bring Jesus back to Earth within their lifetimes. The "conversions" of children on the basis of such techniques is exploitative and can cause emotional pain when, in later life, it is discovered that such beliefs simply do not bear rational scrutiny. Other lessons preached at these camps are even more potentially damaging to children. At recent Soul Survivor meetings that have been featured on God TV, leaders have told young people they will be judged by God on the content of their thoughts when they die, that witch doctors can stunt the mental and physical capacities of children by cursing them, and that Jesus can heal children of medical ailments.

At an Audacious event, a boy about 13 years old described how he had been healed while at a meeting of the organisation.

Such lessons can potentially cause serious emotional and physical damage to the children receiving them and should anger anyone who cares about child welfare. Nor are such youth organisations on the Christian fringe. Anglican clergy are involved in the management of Soul Survivor for example. Rather, the intensity of evangelisation efforts at mainstream youth ministries suggests that youth evangelism is even more extreme in pockets of UK Christianity.

All of this raises the question of what is to be done. Given the emotional impact such ideas potentially have upon children and youth, it appears to me highly desirable that some form of public action is taken. Two minefields present themselves.

The first is the view that religious institutions, under the aegis of religious liberty, have the right to preach whatever doctrine they wish without state interference. This position is rebuttable. Christian churches would not be able, under hate legislation, to advocate slavery or the killing of witches (as many once did) on the basis of certain Old Testament verses for instance. Twenty-first century child welfare standards mean that other doctrines should join the list.

A second objection, that parents have the right to take their children to the religious services of their choosing, is trickier to negotiate. The state placing limits upon children's attendance of religious services with their parents is clearly unacceptable in a liberal society.

The proposal that I would like to make thus falls far short of this. I believe a public commission should be established that issues non-legally binding guidelines on the forms of doctrines that it is desirable that children are taught. The preaching of hellfire or of divine faith healings to children could form part of such guidelines. Non-compliers could be "named and shamed" by such a commission.

Such a venture would carry the advantage of leaving intact the parental right to educate children in their faith tradition, but would also go some way towards recognising the potentially damaging impact of certain religious doctrines upon developing minds.

Singapore on Wednesday partially relaxed television broadcast guidelines allowing cable operators to screen movies containing nude scenes or explicit violence.

By the end of next year, cable operators will be able to offer Restricted 21 (R21) movies to pay-to-view subscribers, the ministry for information, communications and the arts (MICA) said in its 2010 censorship review.

Under the new guidelines, cinemas located in downtown Singapore can continue to screen R21-rated movies such as Hollywood's gay biopic "Milk" which won Sean Penn the best actor Oscar last year for his portrayal of a homosexual politician.

But a ban on showing R21 movies remains in suburban cinemas, the ministry said.

Lui Tuck Yew, MICA's acting minister, said the new guidelines "will offer more choices to adults" while allowing parents more control to protect their children from explicit violence and sex.

"We decided that we ought to be governed by the principle that you make it available in a way where the adult, and especially the parent, will be in a position to exercise greatest control," he told a news conference.

"And so the home environment was the one that we picked. And for those who want to watch it in cinema... it is only a 30-minute bus ride away or less."

There will be "the necessary parental locks and other safeguards in place" to restrict access to children and television viewers aged 20 or younger, Lui said.

Public surveys and feedback have shown Singaporeans were "not yet comfortable" with R21 films being screened in neighbourhood cinemas, Lui said.

Singapore's free-to-air television channels air largely programs and movies heavy on family-friendly and social themes.

AFP

Where I am going with this blog, that is longer than usual, is to suggest how many young people, particularly in the final stage of adolescence that I call "trial independence" (around ages 18 - 23) can come to lead extremely unhealthy lifestyles.

They do so to a physical and psychological cost as college counseling and health centers, for example, will attest. And young people do it with cause. The transition into living away from the oversight of parental supervision and the structure of family life creates a challenge of self-management that is hard to meet without an emotional strain.

However, I believe parents can mitigate some of these crises and collapses by helping their son and daughter develop healthy practices and priorities while still in high school. In particular, they can teach the young person some simple guidelines for managing a key component in healthy living - their personal energy, that potential for doing and action upon which everyone must depend to get anything in life accomplished.

Because personal energy is such a vital and limited life resource, to maintain health it must be guarded and nourished, kept in steady and sufficient supply. From what I have seen in counseling, the mismanagement of their energy gets many young people in psychological difficulty during the final stage of adolescence.

At this transitional time the adjustments are many, loneliness can be painful, more freedom rules, temptations abound, excess is indulged, and adequate self-care is easily neglected. Run out of energy and they can run into trouble as stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, or stimulant dependent young people living away from home for the first time often seem to do.

Then there are young people who are fortunate enough to have learned, by parental example and instruction, habits of healthy energy management to take with them when they leave home. They seem to know how to take good care of them selves at an unstable, scattered, and distracted age when many of their peers do not.

Talking with parents, there is simple distinction between two broad categories for spending personal energy that I advise them to teach.

The first is on daily MAINTENANCE: the recurring activities we did yesterday that we repeat today to keep our basic functioning and wellbeing in tact. Just enumerate a few of the fundamentals: rest, sleep, relaxation, nutrition, hygiene, transportation, exercise, family care, social company, employment, medical care, play, cleaning, laundry, bill paying, repairing, shopping, cooking, and the list of basics goes on and on.

It takes a huge investment of effort to get from one day to the next so that our system is adequately maintained. Neglect these basics long enough and we begin to suffer. For example, when college students ignore illness and don't take steps to get well, when they don't get enough sleep, when they stop eating regularly, when they give themselves no time to relax and renew, when they ignore work obligations, when they do without companionship, their circumstances worsen.

Self-care is neglected,relationships suffer, performance declines, energy becomes depleted, and their system runs down. For everyone, to keep our selves consistently maintained is extremely important.

And yet, why is it that we don't credit these essential activities? I think it is because they seem so basic that they are not worth crediting. Taken for granted, we give them with no great importance. They are under-appreciated because they are simply to be expected. Besides, such basics are not a lot of fun.

Think about it. When was the last time someone said to you, or you said to yourself: "Congratulations! You took care of your basic needs and successfully made it through another day!" Doesn't happen.

So if we tend to ignore the importance of maintenance, what way of spending energy are we taught to value? To answer this question, consider two value sets, each one supporting a different way of spending energy.

The first value set emphasizes doing New, More, Better, Different, and Faster.

The second value set emphasizes doing Old, Less, As well, The same, and Slower.

Which one of these value sets is more likely to be socially rewarded? In our culture, the first set wins hands down because doing new, more, better, different, and faster is how one moves up in the world, attracts notice, achieves success, and maybe even pursues happiness. This value set promotes investing in CHANGE. As for the second set - doing old, less, as well, the same, slower - it tends to support maintenance.

We glamorize change; we celebrate change; we believe in change; we reward change. For example, most any product introduced in this country is advertised and sold because of its change value. Buy it, and it will enable us to do some combination of new, more, better, different, or faster.

Or think about our daily conversation. Which activity are we more likely to discuss with a friend? That we did the laundry again today or that we saw a neat new TV show? That we got the oil changed on the car or that we found a good restaurant? That we renewed our medical prescription or that we got this great bargain? Change trumps maintenance every time.

It's not that change is bad. Change is good. It allows us to adjust, adapt, invent, create, learn, and grow. We need the stimulation of change (trying unfamiliar experiences and activities not done before) to keep us challenged. But we also need the restoration of maintenance (repeating sustaining experiences and activities) to keep us energized as well. The trick is to keep our investments in change and in maintenance in healthy balance. What is that balance?

On any given day I would estimate on average we spend around 80% of our available energy - our potential for doing and action - on maintenance, which only leaves about 20% available for change.

And here is where a lot of adolescents and their parents have a parting of the ways. While parents appreciate the obligation and necessary repetition of maintenance to keep the family system going, the adolescent becomes disdainful of maintenance and prefers the excitement of change.

In counseling with parent and teenager, youth can accuse age of being dull and boring, and age can accuse youth of only being interested in the latest fads and fashions. "I'm not going to waste my life by doing same/old, same/old!" the young person declares. "Well, you're not going to get anywhere in this world by refusing to do anything that isn't new and different!" the parent sternly replies. Youth stands up for change values; age stands up for maintenance values.

Undergoing the throws of trial independence is a hard time to act healthy for young people who are living away from home for the first time, faced with more freedom of choice than they have ever had before, and are tempted by more exciting change that they can easily refuse. What do many of them do?

They ignore self-maintenance (who has time for that?) and they invest in change at the expense of maintenance, in both cases allowing their systems to run down and their energy to become depleted. Now they physically and psychologically becoming more susceptible to serious ailments of the age - fatigue, depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, and the like.

Thus at some point in counseling these casualties of trial independence, I pose basic energy management questions.

"What are the minimal activities you need to do each day to feel basically taken care of?"

"Are there any of these activities that you are not consistently doing or have let slide?"

"How many new and different activities have you chosen to build into you life right now?"

"Have any of these recent changes gotten in the way of taking care of your basic needs?"

"How much of a priority is adequate self-care compared with more fun and exciting things to do?"

It's when a young person runs out of energy, stops renewing energy, becomes entirely focused on entertaining or exciting changes, that a lot of troubles begin. So when in counseling a young person reports saying "no" to a fun change because he or she does not have the available energy to afford it, or because significant self-maintenance must be sacrificed to do it, I support that. I do the same when he or she has the self-discipline to regularly invest in self-maintenance to keep energy adequately maintained.

What are the principles of managing energy for healthy living that parents can emphasize (and model for) their last stage adolescent?

1)Invest in sufficient maintenance activities, repetitive as they may be, to keep energy adequately nourished and restored one day to the next.

2)Invest in sufficient change activities to stimulate energy for continued growth.

3)Honor the disproportionate investment that maintenance takes for an individual to get from one day to the next with one's energy in full supply.

4)Appreciate that after taking care of maintenance needs there is only going to be a moderate availability of energy left for change.

5)Resist investing in change (no matter how appealing, glamorous, or exciting) at the expense of maintenance because that will run a person's psychological and physical system down.

6)Most of the time, when it comes to managing your energy and consistently supporting your health, self-maintenance needs to be priority number-one.

To read about the parental challenge of managing energy, see Chapter 13 about Stress in my book, "The Everything Parent's Guide to Children and Divorce." More information at: www.carlpickhardt.com.

Next week's entry: Early adolescence and closing the loop of responsibility.

On October 18, 1990, Congress got involved in children’s television programming. One of the primary goals of The Children’s Television Act [CTA] was to increase the quantity of educational/informational broadcast television programming for children. The Federal Communication Commission [FCC] defines that further.  Children 16 years of age and under are to get at least three hours per week of core programs. These programs must be 30 minutes in length; air between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.; and be a regularly scheduled weekly program. (Children’s Educational Television, FCC, 2010) The FCC states that the programming must meet “intellectual/cognitive or social/emotional needs.” Additionally, the FCC limits commercial matter on network and cable outlets, such as the National Broadcasting Company [NBC], the American Broadcasting Company [ABC], and the Central Broadcasting Company [CBS], to 10.5 minutes/hour on weekdays and 12 minutes/hour on weekends. These commercial restrictions do not apply to non-commercial television platforms, such as the Public Broadcasting System [PBS] because they are generally prohibited from airing commercials. (Children’s Educational Television, FCC, 2010)

When the phenomenon of television first debuted there were two options regarding its’ operation. It could have been government owned, as in England, or it could have been commercial, as it is in the United States. According to the book, Media Messages (Holtzman, 2000) the moneymaking nature of commercial television, means that its’ content is “largely dictated by economic forces and desires for profit.” Holtzman counters with the idea that programming content might be different if a “government, quasi-government agency or an independent nonprofit organization such as PBS operated television.” (Holtzman, 2000, p. 39) To see that thought in action we could compare the children’s educational/instructional programming available on commercial network and cable, to that of PBS. However, there is no comparable comparison.

Commercial broadcasting nearly dropped all of their educational programs when the federal government deregulated the industry in the mid 1980’s. As a result, the federal government stepped back in 1990 with the CTA.  Today most commercial broadcasting companies choose to fulfill these requirements by scheduling shows that focus more on social situations and less on education. In fact, according to an article titled, NBC: We’re out of kids TV, too (White, 2001), “NBC, CBS, ABC, & Fox have given up their kids programming to cable partners.”ABC & CBS still maintains a Saturday morning line-up for kids but its’ programming is borrowed from sister companies Nickelodian & Disney. Because of this vertical integration of media outlets, networks can fulfill their FCC obligation without producing original work.

NBC cites difficulty in reaching the teenage demographic as the reason they chose to lease out its Saturday morning children’s programming to Discovery Networks. Discovery will borrow its content from their own Discovery Kids or Animal Planet programs.  The above mentioned article, NBC: We’re out of kids TV, too (White, 2001) explains that Discovery may provide some content for kids ages six to eleven but the majority of programs will be for kids ages nine to fourteen. It is Discovery’s intent to “bundle its NBC programs with kid-oriented shows on its other networks as a package for advertisers.” They feel it will “propel them into competition with Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network for the kids market.” The priority networks and cable place on selling to children versus providing genuine educational material is clear.  By comparison, PBS has a different agenda.

Sesame Street is a PBS program and a product of the Sesame Workshop. Recently celebrating its 40th anniversary, it has a proven record of accomplishment and educational appeal. Positive portrayals of race, gender, and social class, are evident in the diverse cast. Emilio Delgado (Luis) and Sonia Manzano (Luis’s wife, Maria) are two of the first Hispanic characters positively portrayed in television media. On the show, “Marie” is quite handy with electronics and anything mechanical, which defies traditional race & gender stereotypes. In real life, Sonia Manzano also writes for Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop.com reports that she has received 15 Emmy awards. (Cast Bio, 2008)

Roscoe Orman (Gordon) is a strong African-American male role model. Roscoe and Loretta Long (Gordon’s wife, Susan) have been happily married on the show for many years. Olamide Faison (Miles) is their adopted son. Together these three characters present a successful, loving, and united family. Bob McGrath (Bob), a white male, is one of four original cast members. Always ready to sing, Bob has received the National Association of Music Educators Fame Award for furthering the cause of music education. Asian-American actor, Alan Muraoka (Alan) is of Japanese descent. He joined the ensemble eight years ago as the proprietor of Mr. Hooper’s store, the heart of Sesame Street. (Cast Bio, 2008)

Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) played the role of the slightly cranky, Jewish shop owner until his death in December of 1982. Lee’s passing was difficult on all the cast members, he was beloved by his co-workers and children of all ages. His passing presented the Workshop team with a challenge. How would they handle the sensitive issue of death with their audience of children? In what would prove to be a continued commitment to children’s education, Sesame memorialized Mr. Hooper in an episode that took on “the tricky business of explaining death to preschoolers.” (Davis, 2009, p. 281) The result was a truly memorable show. Considered a landmark in children’s television programming, it won a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding writing. This program exemplifies Sesame’s dedication to teaching our children, even when the subject matter is difficult to explain. Specific episodes and specials have addressed 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the recent economic downturn and the very delicate subject of parental death.

With the help of psychologists, religious leaders, educators, and other credible sources, writers carefully craft each episode, further demonstrating Sesame’s commitment to our children. The cast and writers are just two parts of this amazing effort. No conversation about Sesame Street is complete without the iconic muppets. Part puppet and part marionette, “muppets” were created and licensed by Jim Henson. Generations of children have embraced Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie, Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The magical quality that the muppets bring to the Sesame message is what makes it internationally appealing. In over 120 countries around the world, Sesame Street uses their muppets in a socially responsible way, portraying race, gender, and social-class within each culture’s landscape.

In 2002, South Africa’sTakalani Sesame introduced the world’s first HIV-positive muppet. “The number of orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS is expected to approach 2 million by 2010.” (Hawthorne, September 22, 2002)So, “Kami,” a perky, fun, schoolgirl was introduced to children in 104, 30 minute, episodes. “Kami” helps children & adults understand HIV. She also helps combat negative stereotypes associated with people who have HIV. In Canada, “Katie” encourages positive attitudes about physical disability by zipping around in a wheel chair. While across the globe, Chinese children have “Xiao Me Zi” a female preschooler, who encourages girl power and self-esteem. In Egypt, “Khokha” a female muppet helps girls excel in school. Proving that friendship knows no political or religious boundaries, “Dafi & Haneen,” are Jewish and Arab friends in Israel and Palestine. (Hawthorne, September 22, 2002)

Because of the global reach of television and Sesame Street’s 40 successful years, it is impossible to calculate how many children have been educated academically and socially since the show first began. To say that Sesame Street is an icon, a legend in children’s television programming, is stating the obvious. However, there is another Sesame Workshop production available on PBS with a successful and impressive history, the Electric Company. Originally created as the next step for the children aging out of Sesame Street, theElectric Company surged into American households in 1971, with what was to become an iconic phrase, “Hey you guys!” This energizing call across generations brought a hip, new voice, to educational television. Using pop culture to teach children how to read, the original program combined music, comedy and the latest special effects to electrify children with the motivation to learn. PBS.org states that thirty-five percent of elementary schools used the Electric Company in the classroom. (Educational Philosophy, 2010) The message was so well received, and so relevant, that in 2009, PBS re-introduced theElectric Company.

In keeping with Sesame Street, race, gender, and social diversity, have always been part of theElectric Company formula. PBS.org provides the details. In the first two seasons, four cast members were African-American, two were Latino, and three were white. The cast was comprised of five males and four females. Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno and Lee Chambers are the most well-know cast members from the original production.  The new cast represents diversity equally well. There are three African-American male characters, two Latino male characters, one Latino female character, three white female characters, and one white male character. Unlike their original counterparts, the new characters each possess a “singular magical ability to produce, control, manipulate, and play with words and letters.” (Electric Company, Character Bio, 2010)

On the new Electric Company, characters square off into two groups based on how they use their magical literacy abilities. PBS.org describes the cast and characters like this: Ricky Smith (Keith) is a 13-year old African-American male. He is upbeat, charming, and confident. His literacy ability allows him to create pictures from words. Priscilla Diaz (Jessica) is a young, problem-solving, Latino female and her ability allows her to replay and display in text, anything she has heard. Josh Segarra (Hector) is “Jessica’s” older brother. His literacy ability gives him super-human observational skills, which also helps in problem solving. Jenni Barber (Lisa) is a white female high school student who can solve any type of word problem with lightening speed. These four cast members form a club known as the Electric Company. They use their special abilities to help solve problems that are usually the result of the “pranksters”. (Electric Company, Character Bio, 2010)

The “pranksters” prefer to keep things chaotic and use their literary abilities to cause problems. Ashley Morris (Francine) is a white female high school student who is obsessed with popularity. She wants to be the president of the Electric Company. She has the basic letter throwing skills that the rest of the characters have but her biggest influence is that she is wealthy and therefore can do just about anything she wants. Sandi Rosa (Annie) is a white female student who can scramble any message into a literary mess. Will Harper (Danny) is an African American male who creates havoc by turning everything into word riddles. Dominic Colon (Manny) is Latino male and a technological whiz. All his gadgets and gears keep the Electric Company quite busy. These four characters often provide the audience with examples of how not to behave, in a way that children can appreciate. (Electric Company, Character Bio, 2010)

Much like Sesame Street and the original Electric Company, educational content is conveyed using many elements of pop culture – music, comedy, technology, and real-life celebrities. These make the show a hip, multimedia experience. One thing that is different from the original Electric Company is the use of a narrative. Each episode’s narrative introduces vocabulary in a way that is both educational and enjoyable for children. “Curriculum commercial breaks” consisting of short sketches, animations, and music, reinforce phonics, text, and motivational goals. (PBS.org, Educational Philosophy, 2010)

As Scott Cameron, Director of Education, and Research for Sesame Workshop points out, “children in low-income families enter kindergarten having heard up to 30 million fewer words than their peers in working-class and professional families.” He adds, “…it seems obvious, but if you teach a child how to sound out the word cope, it won’t get them very far if they don’t know what the word cope means.” (Electric Company FAQ, 2010) Phonics and comprehension are integral parts of Sesame Street, and both versions of the Electric Company.

Both Sesame Street and the Electric Company were born from Children’s Television Workshop, now referred to as Sesame Workshop. Each program has contributed greatly to the positive portrayal of race, gender, and social-class. The audience age may differ slightly but the educational commitment and dedication to the children are 100% the same. This caliber of programming cannot be found on commercial television networks or cable. This must be what Linda Holtzman (2001) was seeing when she commented that television content might be improved if a non-profit organization like PBS was the model for network programming. 

In his book Culture Jam, author Kalle Lasn (1999) states, “American broadcasting isn’t an Orwellian-state-controlled system. It’s a commercial, corporate-controlled system…” but when the commercial and corporate side monopolize the industry and strangle the content then the consequences can be stifling. Lasn (1999) adds, “I don’t want commercialism to be completely purged from broadcasting. But it can’t be the one and only voice.” According to Lasn (1999), “in today’s media environment, advertisers rule—the sponsor is king.” Even PBS isn’t immune to the pressure. “The PBS flagship NewsHour, which is underwritten by Archer Daniels Midland, conveniently ignored the agribusiness giant’s price-fixing scandal throughout 1995.” (Lasn, 1999)

In accordance with PBS standards, both Sesame Street and the Electric Company publicly announce their sponsors. PBS has strict guidelines on what a sponsor can say or do. For example, McDonald’s and Sesame Street recently parted ways after years of affiliation. This sponsorship was a point of contention for many activists because of Sesame’s focus on promoting healthy eating habits for children. Yet according to an article on DailyFinance.com, none of the sponsorship messages “showed product, announced promotions, contained any call to action, or featured any Sesame Street characters.” (Berr, 2010)

PBS’s non-profit culture has helped cultivate the success of Sesame Street and the Electric Company by not restricting content for the sake of selling product to children. They remain beacons of what television content can be like when people with a genuine desire to improve the world, spark our imagination instead of dumbing it down. PBS isn’t infallible but Sesame Street and the Electric Company stand as proof of what television can be, given the right people and the right organization.

Resources:

Berr, J. (March 23, 2010). McDonald’s Quietly Closes Up Shop on ‘Sesame Street’. DailyFinance.com. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-news/mcdonalds-quietly-closes-up-shop-on-sesame-street/19411150/

Davis, M. (2008). Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. New York. Viking

Hawthorne, P. (September 22, 2002). Time Magazine. Positively Sesame Street. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901020930-353521,00.html

Holtzman, L. (2000). Media Messages: What Film, Television, And Popular Music Teach Us About Race, Class, Gender, And Sexual Orientation. Armonk. M.E. Sharpe.

Lasn, K. (1999). Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge—And Why We Must. New York. Quill.

Cast Bios. Sesame Workshop. Sesame Street. Retrieved from http://www.sesameworkshop.org/inside/pressroom/season40/cast

Character Bios. Sesame Workshop. Electric Company. Retrieved from http://www.sesameworkshop.org/inside/pressroom/tec/characters

Children’s Educational Television. FCC Consumer Facts. Retrieved from http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/childtv.html

Educational Philosophy. PBS.org. Electric Company. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/electriccompany/educational-philosophy.html

Frequently Asked Questions. Electric Company. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/electriccompany/frequently-asked-questions.html

White, E. (December 7, 2001) NBC: We’re out of kids TV, too; Turning Saturdays over to Discovery Networks. Media Life.

TV-Y7 - Television Parental Ratings

Obama certainly looks down his nose in a condescending manner.  Why do I hear "KNEEELLLLLLLLL  BEFORE ZOD!!!" from Superman II in my ear?

In opening the State of Union, Obama mentioned the Speaker of the House, the Vice President and the American people. What, no acknowledgement of illegal aliens? Obama apparently is not as tolerant as made to appear.

Isn't Chris Matthews forgetting that Obama is Black more offensive then Harry Reid saying "negro dialect"?

By invoking Bull Run & the Bloody Sunday of the civil rights movement in the State of the Union, Obama implies disagreement with him is racist.

Obama claimed he took office amidst growing government debt.  It's getting even worse under him.

Biden certainly seemed gleeful about hosing the banks.  Biden looked like a bobblehead the way he couldn't keep his neck still.

Guess we’ll see at tax time if Obama is blowing smoke up our rears about not raising taxes.

If Obama is supposedly one of the greatest orators of world history surpassing Bush’s limited elocutionary abilities, why did he use the word “cops” rather than “police”?

President plans to toss $30 billion here; $30 billion there.  Reminds me of the Simpsons bit about Internet stock.

And what if the job bill Obama demands “without delay” is delayed?

I guess all that clean energy technology China is inventing was the cause of all that smog at the Beijing Olympics.

Will Obama really allow offshore drilling or is this a phantom promise like clean-coal technology?

Pelosi’s grin is scarier than the Joker’s.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Naplotano applauds like a lethargic Walrus.

Why does Obama pronounce “Colooombia” with an Hispanic accent?

If everyone needs a college education since Obama decrees that high school is no longer enough for career success, won’t college become as worthless when the government “gives” it to everyone?

Why should future government workers have their student loans forgiven sooner than those in other occupations?

Obama promised to make mortgages more affordable.  Didn’t steps like this cause the housing and banking crisis to begin with?

Frau Obama is to lead a purge against childhood obesity.  May start out as pleas to exercise more, but will likely end with the government monitoring what youngsters eat, threatening to remove from parental custody those not within established guidelines, and eventually the program will be expanded to include adults.  As a former porker now out to change the world, Huckabee will likely endorse this as he also thinks your weight is the government’s business.

If Bush’s prescription drug program was expensive, wouldn’t Obamacare be even more so?

If we are freezing government spending with the exception of outlays related to national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, is that really freezing any government spending at all?

Why is $250,000 considered ostentatiously rich?

Obama's said "The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away."   This really means that to disagree with Obama is subversive.  Look for more attempts at resurrecting the Fairness Doctrine in the name of diversity, national security, and assorted communitarian drivel.

Are Obama's comments about pundits spreading cynicism "respectful".  Why don't these "turn people away from the process"?

It is claimed that the military will be out of Iraq by the end of August.  Expect the next Iraqi uprising to begin the first of September.

When Obama's claims the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is once again prosecuting civil rights violations and employment discrimination, does this include cases on behalf of White people whose rights in the workplace are trod asunder?  If the case of where the charges of voter intimidation were dropped against Black Panthers threatening White folks on election day 2008, it is highly doubtful.

While our values "allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe", those values did not originate from every corner of the globe.  Like it or not, those are largely Western in that they are predominately Judoe-Christian and Greco-Roman.

Obama should be ashamed if he accepts the donation to Haiti from the 8 year old boy.  Notice how Obama did not recommend people send their charitable donations through a private organization instead.

America still faces a potential Obama dictatorship.  His attitude towards the Supreme court is quite chilling.  Now leftists are condemning Justice Alito for not taking his rump kicking with a "Please sir, may I have another."

Congress needs to get a handle on this presidential executive order thing irrespective of the administration issuing these decrees or our Republic is through.

In the Republican response, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell used "her" as a universal pronoun.  If one is not using designations for both genders, "him" is the grammatically correct one to use.

Fox News counted 86 rounds of applause.  I tabulated 93 instances of clapping.  Some of it seemed more subdued than in previous years.

Karl Rove claimed Obama said "I" 96 times.  Reminds me of that scene in the series finale of the original Prisoner.  In my college days, one usually got points deducted for overuse of the first person personal pronoun. At least Bob Dole had the decency to begin his sentences with "Bob Dole".

by Frederick Meekins

A major part of our business, here at TiVo, is building software applications to serve the cable and satellite service provider industries. We continue to expand our development team with talented software engineers who excel at delivering innovative products in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. If you're proactive, solution-oriented and love to see code shipped to millions of consumers, please read on!

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Develop features for core DVR functionality, Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) information, VOD integration, Parental Controls and other key aspects of TiVo functionality.
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