Passive Bystanders of Media Filth by Brittany Nelson

30 Jun Passive Bystanders of Media Filth by Brittany Nelson

It was just an ordinary day. My boyfriend and I were at McDonald’s grabbing a bite to eat. The restaurant was full of small children and people on their lunch break. McDonald’s has gotten very fancy in some places. There are flat screen TVs so that people can stay entertained while they eat. I was faced away from the TV, but my boyfriend had a perfect view. We were talking when, all of a sudden, he got a weird look on his face and said, What the heck?

I turned around and there was a show on Teen Nick playing on the TV. There was a young man tied up in a chair in the living room while a girl in lingerie was being a teenage dominatrix. She straddled him in the chair and he was definitely enjoying it. I could tell the show was supposed to be fun, comedic, and dramatic all at the same time, but I could not understand how a channel could advocate young teens doing this.

Before it went further, some other teens walked in and the girl in lingerie was embarrassed and ran off, leaving her man all tied up in the living room. Ha ha. Funny, right? Wrong.

My first thought was, Why is this type of material available on a channel meant for high schooler’s?

My second thought was, How can McDonald’s show this when there are five year old children everywhere?

I realized that our society has lost its moral foundation and that the media is out of control. This is why sex is starting at such a young age and why there are so many teen pregnancies. In 2007, 48% of high school students had ever had sexual intercourse, and 15% of high school students had had four or more sex partners during their life, according to the Center for Disease Control.1

And the worst part is that everyone is letting this happen. I think that most of us probably do not want a 16 year old exposed to this much sex. I also think that most people would be horrified that three and four and five year old children were watching this show at the McDonald’s while their parents typed away on their smart phones, oblivious to what their children were exposed to on Teen Nick.

When will we stand up for the children and teenagers of this nation? What happened to shows like The Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver? These shows promoted strong families. They were clean and taught moral lessons in a fun way.

Now many of our TV shows are full of sex and cussing. And parents wonder why their teenagers are struggling to stay out of trouble.

I realized that I made the same mistake as everyone else that day. I stood by passively. I did not go up to the counter and tell the workers that I found the show offensive and inappropriate for the children at the restaurant. I just told my boyfriend how awful it was and we finished our food and left.

It is time to stop being passive and to take action.

Brittany Nelson is the co-founder of GWG. After many years of volunteering in international ministry, she became excited about helping other young women discover their passion. Brittany is a Jr. HR Generalist at a consulting firm in the DC area. She spends her free time exploring DC and going to Washington Wizards games with her husband, Paul.

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