Wendell Tucker Saves The World

Reposted from my new weekly guest blog on www.chicagonow.com !!

Greetings Chicagoans! As you probably realize, I am not Kyra. My name is Wendell Tucker, and every Wednesday I will be invading this blog on my personal quest to save the world and increase my Twitter following (@theori). Together, we are going to not just complain about problems, but come up with solutions (the more radical and insane the better). And it goes a little something like this!

The Inspiration:

Remember After School Specials? Saturday morning cartoon's with your favorite sports heroes battling evil while reminding you how important it was to eat your vegetables? How about cartoons that came on right after school? How about the characters who's soul purpose was to instill character? There once was a time, not too far ago, when children came home to programming that was definitely bubble gum, but certainly appropriate to a mind that was being raised to be conscientious and kind. Those days have passed. Children are now coming home to programming such as Maury, Wendy Williams, the various Judges and VH1 (eroding the moral fiber of America since 1999).

Credit: VH1's "Real Chance at Love"

The Problem:

 If you look at the condition of the children in our community, you can definitely see the effects. Though overall violence is down, the brutality and maliciousness of teen violence are at an all time high. We are experiencing teen birthrates that surpass that of the "baby boomers" era. A degeneration of self respect in our young ladies. Young men who find it more appropriate to be a "Goon" than a Graduate. Need proof? Just go to Facebook or Myspace and do a search for females under 21. Be prepared to cry inside. Log onto Twitter after 7pm and do a search for #twitterafterdark. Or simply do a search for "hip roll" on YouTube. These are your children and this is what they are learning from our media.




Understand this: EVERYONE IS A ROLE MODEL. We absorb information that shapes our values from every person we encounter, no matter what the medium. With the before school and after school programming for children on every major broadcast network television network gone (except PBS), children are now being inundated with programming designed for adults. We have 16 year old Hip-Hop artist making albums about sex and alcohol. Entertainers across the board reject the title of Role Model, even though they constantly put out projects that are marketed to children. How do we expect them to be children, when they are constantly surrounded with adult material?

My Radical Solutions:

Raise the standards of responsible broadcasting. All broadcast networks are REQUIRED by the FCC to air 3 hours per week of "core programming" (programming devoted to the intellectual and moral benefit of children under the age of 17). Neither Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC or WGN feature recurrent children programming on any day of the week except Saturday. Daily children's programming should be mandatory.

A "Sin" Fine

Advertising directed towards young people on shows that showcase low moral fiber should be taxed. Now I'm sure some leftist is going to come in crying about censorship. I can see the collective WTF moment now, but hear me out. Billions of dollars are being made off of products that are marketed to children during programming like "Real Chance at Love" and the "Frankie and Neffe" show. These type of shows are degenerative to the development of our youth, and profit from them should come at a cost. The revenue made off this tax can be funneled directly into local school districts to supplement underfunded budgets.

Nothing will replace good parenting, but it is pertinent that we begin to reshape our culture. It's the only way we can reshape our youth. There are many things that we can do to help save our children. This is where you come in. What "Radical Ideas" do you have to change the way media influences our children?