Carol
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 |  Subject: Parents Should Listen To Lambert  30.11.09 15:59 | |
| - Quote :
- Did you happen to catch Adam Lambert on CBS' "The Early Show" last week?
If you're a parent, I hope you did. And I hope you were listening to what he said.
The "American Idol" runner-up, who caused a scandal of sorts with his recent appearance on the American Music Awards, actually had some words of wisdom that apply to everyone who has both children and televisions in their home.
Really.
"I think it's up to the parents to discern what their child's watching on television," Lambert told CBS' Maggie Rodriguez.
Absolutely.
The context, of course, is that the interview came in the wake of Lambert's sexually charged AMA performance. And the reason he was on "The Early Show" was that "Good Morning America" canceled Lambert's appearance after complaints about that performance.
(The show was edited before it aired on tape-delay in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones.)
Rodriguez confronted him about the AMAs, pressing him about whether he should have censored himself because there were children watching the show. But she was flat-out wrong when she insisted that parents "had no idea they were about to see something like that on network TV."
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If parents didn't know, they haven't been paying attention. Prime-time network television is not a haven for families, and a great deal of it is completely inappropriate for children.
And both Rodriguez's question and the outrage in some quarters over Lambert's performance are disingenuous at best. The American Music Awards were clearly inappropriate for children long before Lambert performed near the end of the program.
"Just to play devil's advocate with you — Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles, Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer's crotch, Eminem talked about how Slim Shady has 17 rapes under his belt. There's a lot of very adult material on the AMAs this year, and I know I wasn't the only one," Lambert said. "I'm not using that as an excuse, and I didn't take any offense with those performers' choices.
"I'm saying I think it's up to the parent to watch the television. It was almost 11 at night (EST). If they're concerned with certain material, maybe TiVo it and preview it before your small child is watching it."
I'm not defending Lambert's performance. I am in no way suggesting that it was appropriate for children. It clearly crossed the line for many adults, too.
But he's absolutely right about the responsibility of parents to monitor what their kids watch. Any parents who let their young children sit through Lady Gaga and Janet Jackson and Eminem had already failed to live up to their responsibilities before Lambert even took the stage.
you're somehow under the impression that network television is safe for kids, you haven't been watching. And I shudder to think that you're paying as little attention when it comes to cable/satellite TV.
Over the past couple of decades, every single time I've talked to a group of kids I've asked them what they watch on TV. And, without fail, some of them mention shows that are clearly inappropriate for their age groups.
Every single time.
Most parents check out a baby sitter before they let them take care of their kids. And yet far too few of us pay enough attention to the baby sitter we employ most often.
The television.
Parents have to make their children their primary focus because networks, producers and stars are not going to do their job for them.
"I'm not a baby sitter. I'm a performer," Lambert told Rodriguez.
Parents would do well to remember that. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705347936/Parents-should-listen-to-Lambert.html?pg=2 | |
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