Thursday, May 13, 2010

Parenting

Interesting comment from Katie Couric. What do you think?
It can be a constant struggle for parents - keeping tweens and young teens from getting into R-rated movies.

Take this spring's "Hot Tub Time Machine." It shows plenty of drinking, sex and drug use ... just the sort of images we don't want impressionable kids to see. Well, now comes more evidence that it's a fight worth waging.

Researchers from Dartmouth University studied 3,600 middle schoolers. Among those not allowed to watch R-rated films, three percent were drinking alcohol within about two years. But among those regularly allowed to watch R-movies ... a quarter had begun drinking by then. Other studies have found similar links between movies and both sex and drugs.

Kids pressure parents for a lot of things. You may not be considered the coolest parents around but if the study is correct and life imitates art, you should just say no to grown-up movies for kids.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

4 comments:

the dogs' mother said...

We live in a pretty heavily populated Mormon area. All the kids have Mormon friends and that just cut a lot of stuff out of the equation as to what movies they would go see or show at homes. The kids did not want to not include their friends.

SteveA said...

I agree. But there are so many other avenues for kids to watch/get movies. Parenting is also key and a big part in how kids grow up!

Bob said...

Movies are rated R for a reason. I think it's lazy parenting.

lelocolon said...

I work in the Bronx NYC where I have seen kindergardeners ask for diamond rings. I even heard a third grader ask for a Bj to a second grader. So my take is this if parents are not doing the job we as a society most step to the game and offer options beside the commercialized sex scheme and the drug and gang subculture.