The kids are watching WHAT? Really, they're watching it?

So much scandal these days on the television. It almost terrifies me to think of the poison being dumped into the kids' minds. I see shows like Hannah Montannah, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and it's just a tragedy to me that people actually support garbage like that.

Keenan and Kel was so much cooler.

Still, it seems as though I'm not the only one who's concerned about what the kids are watching. Shows intended for even younger audiences have recently made some hot headlines. The show Sesame Street recently caught some heat for the segment they created with Katy Perry. The short clip was deemed "too racy," and was never aired.

My first thought on the matter was "duh." Producers should have known better than to put her boobs all over a kid's show (and family nework, for that matter). But then I started investigating the other side of the argument, and made some interesting discoveries. Sesame Street executives claim they use celebrities among one of their methods to interest parents.

Fair enough, what Dad wouldn't enjoy a 3-minute cleavage exhibition.

"We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver."

Most of the kids watching Sesame Street aren't even likely to notice. At the age of 3 or 4, I'd say it's safe to say that kids don't make the same erotic connection with boobs as aduts do.

"Who cares if kids are looking at boobs - boobs feed babies, alright?"

Parents also seem to be upset about the new Miley Cyrus video, because she's allegedly a "role model" for young girls. I'm wondering if they're just noticing she's bad at that...

such a slut.

All this got me thinking about what I used to watch when I was younger. Did it really influence me so much, that we should legitimately worry about these five-year-olds becoming strippers? Something inside me is telling me "no," and that side loves Ren and Stimpy and oldschool Mariah Carey videos. So, these moms are worried about their kids seeing too much cleavage? I think my mom had more reason to be concerned over Ren and Stimpy. Man, that show has it all: brains, guts, crude language, violence, name-calling. Overall, it was pretty disturbing (but still AWESOME)

As a young kid, I never really took it seriously. The face-value entertainment is all I really took from it. I wasn't learning my life lessons from Ren and Stimpy - that's what my parents were for.

I used to watch MTV for hours, waiting for them to play Always Be My Baby, and I vividly remember watching Madonna's Like a Virgin video.

I didn't start acting or dressing like them. This could be because my mother wouldn't allow it, or I understood the boundaries of being "grown up." Despite my early exposure to "mature" TV content, I turned out alright. I highly doubt that episode of Sesame Street would turn any healthy, functional child into a booby-crazed maniac.

I do believe that TV influences children's interests, but i think people give too much credit to its power to directly manipulate the behavior and development of children. If you really believe otherwise, send the kids outside to play.