Finding an Ounce of Prevention

Reviews by Mike Gange

The Other Parent
by James P. Steyer
Atria Books, $26, 278 pages

-and-

The Second Family
Dr. Ron Taffel
St. Martin’s Griffin, $12.95, 204 pages

"Too many cooks spoil the broth" goes an old saying. The authors of two new books say there are definitely too many unsavory influences in the lives of our children. Most of those influences, like violent images, a drug enriched lifestyle and inappropriate sexual activity, are swirling around in the media our children are drenched in everyday.

Stanford University professor James Steyer says our kids are being ruined by too many tasteless and negative media influences today, detracting from any moral and decent behaviour they may have learned at home or in school. Steyer, the founder and president of Children Now, has frequently appeared on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, and Today, and was a speaker at the White House Summit on Children and the Media.

In his book The Other Parent, Prof. Steyer repeatedly shows how all mass media companies are profit driven businesses. Even companies providing programming for children make the bottom line and shareholders’ return on investment more important than quality programming and social conscience, he says. "In a media climate that promotes recreational sex to grab audiences, teens are growing up with risky attitudes and habits that could harm them physically, psychologically and emotionally," he writes.

This rottenness, says Prof. Steyer, began as a result of the indulgence toward media during President Reagan’s administration, but has continued because of the corrosive symbiosis that permits the entertainment media to increasingly spice up their products with sex, drugs and violence while politicians, often financially endorsed by those same media companies, look the other way.

Prof. Steyer says there are three ways to counteract this all-too-spicy stew our kids are immersed in. First, he proposes government action to break up the media conglomerates, establish a major public fund for quality media content, and support PBS with funding and leadership. Secondly, he calls for citizen advocates to focus on children’s media issues, organize a boycott of media companies and challenge FCC licences. Finally, says Prof. Steyer, all media companies have to take some responsibility for their actions and embrace public interest programming as well as stop crying censorship. All three proposals have the urgent need to fund nation-wide media literacy efforts in our schools and communities as a common denominator.

New York therapist Ron Taffel also sees a generation of troubled teens spinning out of control. He sees the media as a part of the mix causing problems for kids – the language in the music, the graphic sex in movies and on TV, violence – leading them to disconnect with parents, teachers and society. In The Second Family, Dr. Taffel says the problem with today’s youth goes beyond just the media messages, and is a part of the pop culture and peer group pressure kids live with. Many of today’s troubled teens think it is more important to be famous, even infamous, than ignored, says Dr. Taffel. Kids often lie convincingly to adults without the slightest trace of guilt, observe or participate in sexual encounters at incredibly early ages and enjoy substance abuse not as a rebellious youth but just because of availability. Because of a code of silence amongst kids, parents never really know how deeply embedded their kids are, he says.

And precisely because so many parents are either too busy or too distracted to pay close attention to their kids, the children have formed groups where they are accepted just for who they are. This blend of pop culture and peers is what Dr. Taffel calls the second family. Membership allows the kids to be welcomed without judgement, while providing opportunities to explore the pop culture brew. Dr. Taffel is not talking about rebellious street corner gangs, saying even the good kids today are subject to this potentially deadly mix whenever they get together in schools, and at social functions where kids might meet informally.

The horrific and troubling anecdotes related by Dr. Taffel come from his clinical encounters with troubled teens and one must realize his viewpoint is shaped by his clientele. Unfortunately, his observations give way to preachiness, exactly what he instructs today’s parents to avoid. Prof. Steyer solutions are more multidimensional but his tone becomes too protectionist; he neglects to mention there are times to celebrate what the media can do. Still, it is interesting to read how both authors have raised the alarm. Another old saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Mike Gange teaches media studies and journalism courses at Fredericton High.