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Dear Sir or Madame,
I'm guessing it's kind of a bummer that all of the mail you probably get are nasty-grams, and no one really sends mail to give you a big pat on the back. Unfortunately this is a nasty-gram, sorry about that. Tonight I was so taken aback by what I saw on Nick, a childrens channel, that I felt compelled to lose an hour of sleep and write you.
I don't usually sit with my kids and watch kid shows, but I've seen enough to know that they are not allowed to watch Cartoon Network due to some of the crude jokes and behaviors that take place in many of their shows. I will usually let them watch Nick because I've believed it to be age appropriate programming. I've monitored the shows from afar, doing household chores and somewhat listening in to the dialogue. This evening my daughter was sick and especially clingy, so I had a chance to watch about an hour and a half of Nick with my 5 and 7yr old. I couldn't believe what I may have missed over the years by not paying close attention to the nuanced crudeness that takes place on non-cartoon programming.
I watched iCarly, Victorious, and Big Time Rush with my kids this evening, and over the course of an hour and a half I witnessed three VERY inappropriate and gratuitous situations. On iCarly, Carly is in the woods, looking through binoculars. When asked if she sees anything, she says that she only sees two squirrels wrestling, another character remarks , “I don't think their wrestling”..... “eew!” Later Spencer makes a comment to the tune of, “would you rather stay and watch the squirrels?” While this is obviously not central to the theme or plot of the episode in any way, it is revisited later in the show....as if to drive it home.
On Victorious, there is a pill popping director that pops a pill each time chaos ensues. As if to clarify that he's not just popping a breath mint, he exclaims, “I'm all out of pills!” In another scene, two females are in a car, one is fumbling for a ringing cell phone and her feet come in contact with the drivers breasts. The driver exclaims, “Hey! Watch the girls!”
While this is simply an hour of programming (Big Time Rush seemed to be OK...at least this episode), I hate to think what I've missed all this time. I'm now starting to wonder if the situations presented in your shows are the root of many odd questions that I received from my children over the years. Nickelodeon is presented and packaged as a channel for children, and I may have been irresponsible for not taking a closer look early on. To be honest I prefer the burping, farting, and sneaky disobedience of Cartoon Network over sexual innuendo and drug use portrayed on just one hour of Nickelodeon.
I may be just “another nasty-gram”, but once posted on Facebook as a warning to other concerned (and uninformed) parents that tend to think the way I do, it becomes hundreds, maybe even thousands that decide that Nickelodeon has programming that is inappropriate for their children. It is understandable that animal vs human sexual behaviors are two different things.....but does the average 8 yr old really need to be exposed to jokes based on animals mating? I believe that most parents would like to be in control of their children's sexual exposure. While that may be difficult in this day in age, Nickelodeon shouldn't be at the forefront of introducing mating animals (that leads to other questions) and pet names for breasts .......I shouldn't even need to comment on the drug use.
I'm aware that many shows and cable channels like to push the envelope with sexual content, language, and violence. Never in a thousand years would I think that Nickelodeon would be right along side them, testing the limits. Heck, “Saved by the Bell-The College Years” was geared towards teens and much tamer than the current programming featured on Nickelodeon prime time.
Sincerely,
Every Parent that thought Nick was for kids