Tivo’s Bad Idea

August 26th, 2006

It appears as if the children of America (at least some of them) are about to be demoted to second rate citizens just as Pluto was last week. Tivo has announced that it is getting in bed with religious leaders to promote its new “KidZone” feature. This feature will allow parents to block certain media content from their children’s eyes.

“We know that kids are going to be exposed to the media, so why don’t we take the media on our own terms?” Tivo Inc. Vice President Joe Miller told a group of about 50 leaders in Atlanta.

The new free service will have a menu of recommended shows by nonprofit organizations focused on children (with no doubt religious undertones.) I think this is a horrible idea. Not only will this aid in closing the minds of children by pounding the right wing Christian message down their throats, but it also disguises the reality of the mess our world is truly in. We wouldn’t want to show them pictures or news broadcasts about children getting blown up in Iraq by US Military, now would we? That might make them ask questions that we as adults wouldn’t know how to answer. (Because the only true answer would lead us to explaining to them the greed and corruption of our very own government.)

Perhaps instead of putting our children in front of a padlocked TV while we sip martinis by the pool, we should sit with our children and watch appropriate content together. Teach them right and wrong, explain to them what is truly going on in the world, that way we won’t have to worry about padlocking the TV and they’ll gain a better understanding of why there is so much violence on TV.

Tivo, religion, TV, children

Entry Filed under: World