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This morning, as I was driving Mimi to school, I heard a report on NPR about the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week – which is this week. They do it every year during the last week of September to “celebrate the freedom to read” that we all enjoy. I honestly don’t think too much about that freedom in my daily life (I tend to take it for granted), but as they were naming some of the books being challenged on the list for 2007, it was quite shocking to think that people are actively trying to keep these books off the shelves. For my own good.
The ALA offered some suggestions (via their website) for ways to celebrate the week:
Stay Informed: If you hear about a challenge in your community, find out how it’s being reviewed and what the policy is.
Get Involved: Go to school board meetings or volunteer at your school or public library. Create an event that helps educate about censorship and/or the concept of free speech.
Check out or re-read a favorite banned book: Encourage your book club to read and discuss one of the books. Check out the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007 (pdf) for inspiration.
Mimi has discovered a LOVE of reading, partly through Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series (on the List). I understand why some parents don’t like those books – it’s hard for me to take sometimes too – but Mimi is not talking like Junie B. She’s learning the rules of grammar. She knows that Junie B. is a CHARACTER who happens to talk the way she talks. Oh, dear. We’re also reading Harry Potter.
I want to highlight a site that is indespensable if you are trying to manage your family’s media use – Common Sense Media. I’m often looking for old movies that I can rent for the kids. Among a million other helpful things, this site lists movies (with reviews) categorized by age appropriateness. It’s useful for jogging my memory of what’s out there, but also to hear what other parents think about it – and kids post reviews too. I also check the site to see what kind of Wii games my kids will be able to handle at their ages. Consider signing up for their newsletter to get timely topical tips (the latest one covered tips for handling election coverage and political ads with your kids. Check it out and let me know what you think. How might you use the site? I’m considering having my kids write their own reviews and post them…
Years ago, my best friend told me about how her dad used to play a game called “Introducing” with her and her older brother. They would wait around a corner or up the stairs and listen while their dad used his deepest, loudest, most professional sounding voice to Introduce them to an imaginary audience stifling coughs and crinkling wrappers in the living room. I loved the idea so much that I couldn’t wait to play it with my own kids. Which we do. Regularly. As if to say, ALL THE TIME. It’s getting so they can barely enter a room without expecting a standing ovation (okay it’s not that bad. yet.). Anyhoo….I will now demonstrate the game by “Introducing” you to my 7 year-old daughter, who will likely be the impetus for a large part of the wonderfully insightful conversations I hope to have with the (not for too long I hope) imaginary readers of this blog. So without further ado…
INTRODUCING – The Super Amazing, Singing and Dancing, Bike Riding, Scooter Jumping, Mile Running, Fast Talking, Song Writing, Math Whizzing, Show Quoting, Brother Loving, Guitar Playing, HannahMontanaYouBetterWatchYourBack Sensation……..MiMi Bo Jimi Banana Fana Fo Fini !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Pretty please leave a comment if you have played the Introducing game before and/or if you know of a support group for Mothers Coping with Girls Addicted to Cheetah Print.
The scene:
My parents house. Trying to round up the kids after Boompa had spent all day with them at The Carnival in The Parking Lot. A day in which they each ate THEIR VERY OWN bag of cotton candy. And ice cream bar. And lemonade.
They were bouncing off the walls and just as I was about to get their screaming, crying, crazy-making selves out the door – my husband calls. Oh, just to see how things are going. Only I can’t really actually hear him, so I pull the phone away from my ear and yell: “If you don’t stop it right now I’m going to delete two episodes EACH from the DVR when we get home!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
It was silent for a second. And then my parents burst out laughing.
Talk about a generation gap.
Don’t mind me, I’m just going to quietly change the focus of this entire site with one post. This post right here. From now on I’m going to use this site to explore two areas that intersect constantly in my daily life. Family and Media.
I like TV. My husband likes TV and my kids REALLY like TV. Okay, we LOVE the tv and our movies and our video games. And as soon as I get my hands on my very own iPhone, I imagine I will love it as least as much as I love my husband. Eh, probably more.
I grew up watching re-runs of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and my favorite, Three’s Company. I enjoyed these half hours (strung together in 1-2 hour blocks) without challenge from my parents, who probably thought I was up in my room reading Little House in the Big Woods for the third time in two weeks (I’ve always been a reader too). Yes, I had a tv in my room and yes, it was a bad idea.
I suppose it was inevitable that I would become a television producer myself. But, not one drawn to extremes, I have found my home at a small PBS affiliate station that allows me to follow my passion without all the guilt.
The guilt comes from mothering my two children.
Two children who don’t like Sesame Street and find Mr. Rogers BOR-RING. Beyond boring, in fact. Oh, how it kills me. At least my viewing habits were balanced. My kids want Cheetah Girls and more Cheetah Girls with a little High School Musical and Hannah Montana thrown in. Just enough to make me want to toss our beloved flat screen out the window.
I spend my nights wondering what kind of damage is being done to their little brains and then I comfort myself with that fact that at least they’re not spending two hours a day hoping Jack will finally get to sleep with Janet without Mr. Roper finding out. And I turned out okay, right? RIGHT?
Anyway, I think it will be fun to write about watching tv when I can’t actually be watching tv. It’s genius really. I hope a reader or two will find this site (hello? are you out there?) and share your joys and struggles with helping your kids become media savvy as well.
