Ok, Nickelodeon is airing a special tonight on gay parents called “My Family Is Different”. On this special edition of Linda Ellerbee’s “Nick News,” a group of children, ages 13 to 15, discuss what it means for children to be raised by gay parents.
Obviously, this hasn’t gone over too well with the Christian right.
I listened to a spokesperson for the “Traditional Values Coalition” on the radio tis morning state that this show is designed to teach kids to be gay. Linda Elerbee, the shows host states that “The program is about tolerance … It is not about sex. It does not tell you what to think.”
So, the question is, if you are a parent, (or even if your not) would you allow your kids to watch this show and what are the reasons for your choice? Do you think it is appropriate subject matter?
Well musicguy, I think you’re asking (mostly) the wrong people. As a whole Dopers realize you can’t “teach homosexuality”. I think the problem that The Traditional Values Coalition has with the program is that it doesn’t teach that having gay parents is abnormal, just different.
Jerry Falwell and his ilk do not dictate what my children will be allowed to watch on T.V.
They do when cowardly networks cave in to emails and calls from Falwell’s followers. Nickelodeon deserves a lot of credit, a lot of networks would indeed have pulled the show, especially after receiving over 100,000 emails and phone calls in protest.
I would hope that is the case. My guess is that there is still a number of people here though that think that homosexuality is a learned process, a choice, so to speak.
I guess I am more interested in learning if dopers would feel that this is appropriate subject matter for the 8-12 age group. Better yet, would they be disturbed if their child wanted to watch this show.
For the record, I think that any show that can help diminish the hate that a gay child faces in school is a great thing. Of course it will be far less effective if the parent is also watching and making comments like “I don’t want you hanging around with any kids with fag parents”.
Why wouldn’t it be? Probably some of the kids in that age group have already encountered a family that includes one or more gay persons, and may be curious about why “Billy’s family is different.”
Absolutely not. (Caveat: I don’t have kids.) I would encourage a child’s interest, and watch the show with them so we could discuss what came up afterward in an age-appropriate fashion.
Absolutely. The Tzeroling knew a lesbian couple when she was a younger child (friends of her mother’s) and even if she weren’t I’d let her watch it. More than likely I’d watch it with her as well, since I hear that they have some kids with negative reactions to homosexuality on the program and I’d want to counter those views - and I don’t believe the show would make an effort to.
I certainly do think it’s an appropriate subject for adolescents, since they’re quite aware of the world around them and are beginning to really understand what human relationships mean. It’s not like they’re providing graphic instructions on how to have gay sex; they’re simply trying to talk about the fact that these relationships exist and that you might actually meet someone who’s in a family like that.
Absolutely. The Tzeroling knew a lesbian couple when she was a younger child (friends of her mother’s) and even if she weren’t I’d let her watch it. More than likely I’d watch it with her as well, since I hear that they have some kids with negative reactions to homosexuality on the program and I’d want to counter those views - and I don’t believe the show would make an effort to.
I certainly do think it’s an appropriate subject for adolescents, since they’re quite aware of the world around them and are beginning to really understand what human relationships mean. It’s not like they’re providing graphic instructions on how to have gay sex; they’re simply trying to talk about the fact that these relationships exist and that you might actually meet someone who’s in a family like that.
Well I have two sons in the 8-12 group, and now I know what they’re watching tonight. Recently I had to correct them for using “gay” as an insult, so this might be just the thing I’m looking for. As far as the Xtian group being upset by it, well, so. Falwell and his ilk warrant about the same consideration I give to umh, hmmm, well no not even that much.
I figured there would be at least a few people that were against this type of show being on TV (I am personally for it). Listening to the responses on talk radio this morning, I don’t think I heard one person say anything positive about this show. Perhaps biggirl is right and people are just more enlightened around here. It sure doesn’t make for much of a debate though.
It’s hard to remember back to 20 years ago when my daughters were 13 and 15. Here’s how I think I would have reacted.
[ol][li]I’d have no objection to their watching it.[]I might even encourage them to watch it.[]It’s MUCH less important than many other issues, because gay parenting is so rare.[/ol] In fact, with the success of La Cage au Folles as a movie and a musical, I would say gay parenting has been publicized far in excess of its importance. The mystery novel, Reflex, by Dick Francis also features a hero who was raised by a gay couple. [/li]
OTOH, how many TV shows, books and movies have their been about Black on Black crime or teen-age pregnancy – problems that affect millions of Americans.
BTW I have no particular respect for Jerry Falwell. However, there’s something not quite right about feeling superior because he holds the wrong view on this relatively infrequent living style.
Well, not speaking for anyone else, I feel superior to Jerry Falwell because he’s a homosexual-hating, intolerant-of-those-who-are-not-his-brand-of-Christian, meanspirited wannabe arbiter of everyone’s morals.
And december pops in, representative of the “majority” thought, and essentially says, “I don’t understand what the big deal is! Look, a comedy was made about those people and lots of people saw it, and a mystery writer with a (to be fair, fairly hefty) fan base wrote about it, so will you just hush up?”
And he mentions other things that have been part of the conservative press lately (I’m guessing).
And in another thread, we have Ace0Spades saying, “those people are weird. Their kids may come out weird. No, I don’t have any real proof of that. But we still can’t allow those people to adopt.”*
And another poster recently mentioned that the teen age pregnancy rate is dropping.*
We’ll stop giving this sort of programming kudos when it passes by without notice because there is no fuss made when {Insert Name of Gay Poster Here} finally settles down and decides s/he wants a family. When s/he can adopt with impunity, or raise a biological child of her/his own without concern for having said child taken from her/him.
Until then, this is much more of an issue to me than a dropping teen pregnancy rate.**
*links may come later, but the hamsters are not happy with me right now.
**I have no idea how much of a problem Black on Black crime is as opposed to White on White or Asian on Asian crime, or crime in general. But I don’t see that the subject has much to do with this thread, anyway.
I’m sitting here listening to internet radio. The O’Reilly Factor is on, and this is the first time I’ve heard it.
Yuk!
The topic right now is a show on Nickelodeon tonight about gay parenting, and the guest is extremely opposed to the show. His basic point is that it shouldn’t be on Nick because that network is primarily for kids and he feels it’s an attempt to co-opt the education of kids from the parents. He also said a little while ago that all the studies indicating gay parents do not automatically cause gay children were lying. His reason being: If his parents were snorting coke or smoking around him when he was a kid it would make him feel those behaviors were normal and he’d do it too.
Hmmm. My parents both smoked when I was a kid. I hated it. Never have smoked, never will.
Nobody has to watch the show if they don’t want to. (Isn’t it interesting how often people who are opposed to some TV show seem to forget that?) Nickelodeon doesn’t have TV cops who’ll come around and force people to watch it at gunpoint.
I don’t have any kids, but if I did, I’d watch the show with them and discuss it.
Kids are very susepctible to the ‘I’m different from everyone else’ = “I’m weird/not worthy etc.” gig.
I recall my son being flumoxed by being the only kid wearing glasses (age 4), one of the few that were being raised just by mom (in his social group, school was more varied), and then when he got to suddenly discover that his uncle Mark really preferred to be called Amber, he was really thrown for a loop.
I am pretty easy when it comes to what my daughter watches on Tv. When it comes to something that I disagree with, that’s another story. I teach her to be open with me. If she ever has any questions she comes to me. If she ever encounters a child in school that is ‘different’, I am confident she will come to me and** I** will explain to her what needs to be explained, not Nickelodeon.
This is not a program for young, impressionable children.
I hope it will be the last of it on Nickelodeon because my daughter does like a few shows. I would hate to take that away from her.
I am, once again, flabbergasted by the religious zealots. I keep wondering, if all it takes is a TV show to turn people gay, why haven’t the Gay Commandos taken over a few satellites and beamed Gayness all over the planet by now? I mean, the whole world could be fabulous already! Heck, it could be the military’s secret weapon… Having a problem with Iraq? Zap 'em with a few episodes of Will and Grace, and they’ll be too busy flouncing and accessorizing to do the war thing.
It’s strange to be vilified like this. My boyfriend and I would love to adopt someday, and a program like this might, theoretically, make the child’s life easier. But, according to Falwell and his ilk, any exposure to any non-inflammatory information about gay people will corrupt the minds of youth, and keep them from hating gay people properly.
How can people hate like this? How stupid do you have to be to believe that ignroance is better than knowledge, that knowing things about gay people can turn your kids gay, that anything gay people say is suspect, and malicious?
On preview, JerseyDiamond has entered the thread. So, what is it that you disagree with about the program?
And, for kicks, what would you do if your kid came home talking about her new friend, who’s got two daddies and no mommy?
