Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What are they really reading?



I noticed over yesterday with Miss 9 spending an HOUR on YOU TUBE looking and replaying THIS.
She has read three of the series but seems fixated on whether two of the main characters will or will not get together. Not really intrinsic to the plot of HP, given that Rowlings has admitted the series end will result in the demise of a main character in a manner which will not allow any future author to resurrect in any way, shape or form. She reads Clarice Bean by Lauren Child, the Rainbow Fairies series by Daisy Meadows, Judy Moody by Megan Mc Donald, she loves the "OLOGY" books like Wizardology, Dragonology, Egyptology, she read all my Enid Blytons, several dozen Pony Pals, Kids night In ( Book 1 over 750 pages). Yet, the fixation on if Harry will be with Hermonie or not remains a question of the ages for her. When I was 9, I wanted to be as wickedly smart as "The Naughtiest Girl"and cared little about such tripe, only thing about boys which concerned me was whether I could beat them .
I was reading an article about the masses of mags aimed at "tweens" ( 9-13 age group) the demographic which was once forgotten as being the target group for anything much more than toys. Now is the group at which is aimed new music ( if others like it, its cool to them) makeup,( many now wear makeup for dance recitals, plays, competitions, etc)clothes ( designer labels are becoming more and more known to children at a much younger age) and a myriad of other consumer items that our kid DON"T NEED. If I see one more poster of Jessie bloody McCartney or what ever his name is, I will scream. Delta, Kylie, Pink I can tolerate and handle, women of substance and strength who sing and write from the heart. High School musical is harmless, like Grease. But the talentless ,tarted up pretty boys like Jessie which are being shoved at our kids ( read girls) is harassing and harking them into the belief that you need to have a "crush", you need to like someone of the opposite sex at any age.
So, so, so wrong.
I continually tell my kids, you don't need to marry ( although ask Mr 4 and he's marrying ME!!) and Mr 5 is marrying NO ONE!!That people can be happy no matter what and that they are only children for a short time and grown up for a very long time,so not to wish to grow up too soon. Whilst Miss 9 has a grasp on same sex relationships ( she understands that gay doesn't always mean you are just a happy person) the mechanics of it have never been discussed nor approached. My choice, my children. It is not the role of the media on any way, shape of form to force onto my kids the conformist notions of relationships and accepted behaviours. As parents, it is a subject that is the responsibility of them and them alone. Accepting diversity in all its realms enters into this fray, for if kids magazines are conducting quizs to find "Who's Your Crush"yet defining only heterosexual or monogamous relationships when the reverse may be the norm in a child's world, what message does that send the child?
Magazines aimed at any age group be in tweens to teenagers, need to be more responsible to the reader and less to the advertisers, some social responsibility and educational content needs to be addressed in some of these magazines.