In my previous journal about entertainment, I talked about how modern entertainment is in a state of arrested development, and how creators and consumers treat each other as though they can't move on. But one aspect that I didn't go into detail on was children's entertainment, and that's because it's another beast entirely. While most entertainment has been criticized for being unoriginal, devoid of talent, and aiming for clapter from an audience that probably wouldn't watch it anyway, children's entertainment seems to have something a bit more sinister behind it; as a matter of fact, you may just call it illegal.



But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about what children's media is, or at the very least what most people think it is. Most of the time, they use highly saturated colors, strong designs, and feature characters that can be human, animal, plant, or something else entirely. Their plots, comedy and morals are simple and to the point. Everything feels upbeat, moves by very quickly, and the songs they use feels as though you sung them during circle time. However, we need to differentiate children's media from family media. Whereas children's entertainment is on a surface level with how they handle things, family entertainment has some themes that children wouldn't get or handle until they're a bit older. (I. E. parents getting divorced or the loss of a loved one) Some children may relate to some of these things and that in and of itself is why family-friendly works are more likely to get positive reviews than children's entertainment will get; they feel more mature.



However, we live in an age where everyone is addicted to screens, even parents. If you believed that TV rotted your brain, imagine getting a screen that's so small that you have to squint to see it properly. That's a recipe for disaster because of how distracting entertainment can be, and it takes time for children to build a moral compass. As mentioned, children are only familiar with what they're exposed to, and if you grew in an age filled with immediately recognizable faces, that's especially true. But the child world and the adult world may be two entirely different things, while at the same time, one and the same. That's the reason why some of us still cling to the past, because we never forget those threads. (Trust me, I speak from experience.)



But even back in the day, you weren't safe from a few stinkers. Some of the characters had annoying voices or creepy designs, and in some extreme cases, teach rather mishandled or degenerate morals. (You hear that, Cailou? I'm talking to you!) Others try to replicate good quality that's popular at the time, but become lost in translation as a result. Do you remember watching Barney as a kid? Well, I do, and while I loved when I was little, which is still the target demographic, I tend to distance myself from it now. Barney is one of those shows that falls under the "complainer is always wrong" category, and sometimes comes this close to bad touch territory. In fact, Barney's first voice actor, Bob West, was sent to prison for sexual harassment. As a matter of fact, there is a surprisingly large number of shows that created by people who have committed some towards a minor, whether it be before, during or after. Pee-Wee Herman, Julia Vickerman, Dan Schnider, John K., they're all guilty, but that shouldn't change the fact that we still love their content, right? Well, what I'm going to discuss in these next few paragraphs would make these people pardonable by comparison.



Today's brainrot, as the kids say, seems to have something malicous going on. If you've used the YouTube kids app, you might think that a good majority of the content is mostly innocuous. And you may be right, to an extent, extent being the operative word. About half of the content is indeed child-friendly and educational, if not cheap-looking and poorly animated. But for the other half, yikes! They're filled with really graphic, pornographic, violent content. One video would feature Minions killing each other, another would feature Bluey getting pregnant whilst other family members have incest. I don't know if the people who made these videos made them with children in mind, but I don't think anyone in their right mind should be watching these videos. And yet they get tons of views, even more so than the content that is kid-friendly. Part of is due to how often they get advertisements, which also entails something terrible.



But if they're not being violent or perverted, they can be disturbing in another sense. If you're familiar with children, you may have heard of the terrible twos. This is the time in a child's life when they develop a rebellious side, often through anger or stubbornness. You can punish them for their actions, but it may take time for them to fully grow out of it, that is, if they ever grow out at all. Enter channels like Cocomelon, or Pinkfong, or Blippi. Like I said, the worst shows of the past don't teach us anything outside of being irksome and self-conformist. These channels have similar issues, but also have the little bonus of being way too fast. It's bad enough that attention spans are basically non-existent. But if your content has everything be a flash in the pan, it'll exacerbate those problems. What's even worse, though, that if you were to turn off the tablet or, at the very least, switch it over to something else, they activate the terrible twos, flying into a rage or becoming depressed. It makes you wonder if it was all intentional on the creator's part.



We're not done yet, though, because we need to discuss the parents. Now, this is coming from someone that wasn't allowed to watch Nickelodeon's silly shows when they were little. But it's sort of astounding that many of them condone these channels or say nothing at all. Is it because they are so popular that they don't allow any critique whatsoever? If I were to view this stuff as a kid, I'd be more scarred than I was when my first grandparent or dog died. Some children wouldn't want to associate with the famous brands because they keep associating them with these creepy videos. Giving your child an iPad can be viewed as negligent, but what's even more so is that they don't actually watch what their children watch anymore. Back in the day, parents took the ratings on movies and TV shows and video games very seriously, judging as to whether or not your child was old enough to see it without being scared or temped. Now, they just plop them in front of whatever as if to hope to see what their reaction would be. Great parenting this is not.



Now here's else something to consider, one that's even more dystopian. The mode age of children getting their iPhone is 10 years old and the people most likely to use social media are teenagers. This means that most of the people who are hooked on the internet are still, to some degree, impressionable and incomplete. Depending on which crowd they hang out with, they can develop the worst possible traits about themselves. However, we also have to contend with the screens themselves as they can be their own issue. One reason that I prefer personal computers and TV screens is that they're large and most of the time, you're sitting in front of them. However, with phones, the screen is so small that you can carry it in your pocket. Being small in size can worsen an addiction to screens, especially since you have to squint in order to see the whole thing properly. And because we use this device while out in public, it can be a distraction as well as an indirect murder weapon. Not only are these devices make you seem rude, and that can be an understatement, but if you don't watch where you're going, you can get hurt very easily. And that, too, can be an understatement.



Now, I'm going to talk about an aspect of my childhood that many people haven't experienced in theirs; while I grew up with several movies, TV shows, and games as well, but I also grew up with a subset of video games and audiobooks created for children. Back in the day and even today, you were most likely to see them in school rooms and libraries, but I had an ample amount of them at home as well. Back then, physical ownership was they only way to see anything, and they weren't meant for a widespread audience. But now, thanks to the internet, you can find some of these books turned into videos. Sure, the legal stance of copyright and fair use can be vauge and somewhat biased (to the point where even saying their names can result in fines in some cases) but I consider them a healthy alternative to the slop that children's media is today.



So what should be done? Well, it pains me to say it, but we're going to have to go back to the days when parents judged the content that our children watch. Back in the 80's and 90's parents were a bit more judgmental as to what our children watched. At first, it was a question of whether or not it may scare children. (You know, Satanic Panic and all that.) Then it became whether or not children would imitate the violent and grossly inappropriate thins they saw. Some of it was a little extreme, but at the very least we were thinking of our kid's best interests. This time around, the basis should be about the quality of the content in general. The question however, should have nothing do with children, not this time. The question this time should be, "Would anyone in their right mind view this crap, let alone create it?" It should provide a bit more common sense than what the general consensus was back in the day. Personally, I wouldn't click on those videos even if my life depended on it. The thumbnails alone seem to be a red flag. With today's brainrot, I probably wouldn't see bright visuals or hear playful songs or learn anything. In fact, the only thing I would learn from all this is that all that I hear (and see) is nothing but noise. Also, if I had children of my own one day, I'd be a bit selective with the entertainment I'd rather they be exposed to.



Before I finish, I'd like to give one more sentiment towards the phrase "cartoons are only for kids." Not only is this saying rather braindead (and I'm not even mentioning the fact that adult animated shows exist, either), but it can also be very insensitive. People who such things may as well add something like "and I hate them," because that's what they imply. Whenever people say that "A is only for B," it sounds like they hate B as well as A. Children need a balance of discipline and reverence in order to grow up properly, and being too gentle or too strict will only worsen them later down the line. On the other hand, saying that something is only for children can sound like you have some sort of animosity towards them. We need to be weary about what we say and do around young minds, because it can come across as hurtful or damaging. I'd prefer that children grow to live a happy, healthy life that lies ahead of them, rather than exposed and left alone to things that could harm their psyche.