Last week, FX’s hit series “Sons of Anarchy” aired its Season 6 premiere to landmark numbers. Despite what even the creator of the show admitted was a disturbing episode, “Sons of Anarchy” drew in 8.32 million viewers in its 10 p.m. time slot, setting a record for any show on FX. Packed into the hour were guns, rape and other multitudes of gross, sometimes downright squeamish scenes. So it’s no surprise that immediately following the premiere, the Parents Television Council blasted the network and creator for airing such an offensive and insensitive episode. Oh, here we go.
For those of you unfamiliar, the Parents Television Council is a group that, according to its website, “works to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted towards children.” After the “Sons of Anarchy” premiere, the PTC took to the media to condemn the show for its depiction of a school shooting, simulated rape and the torture of women. This was all part of the council’s effort to convince Congress to pass a bill that would allow viewers to have a sort of a-la-carte cable bill so they wouldn’t be required to have networks like FX on their subscriptions. This latest whine-fest doled out by the PTC has finally gotten on my last nerve and I’ll tell you exactly why.
The PTC has a history of going after shows that it feels display inappropriate or disturbing behavior. It has scorned “Glee” for episodes featuring characters losing their virginity and then later singing about it. More recently it launched an attack against ABC’s “Scandal” for portraying what appeared to be a waterboarding scene as harmful to society’s youth. And I mean let’s face it, isn’t every kid you know just dying to tune in to a drama about politics mixed in with romantic affairs? Not exactly. But they may be tuning in to a show like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” which according to research can be a lot more harmful to kids.
The Journal of Pediatrics conducted a study in 2011 proving “that a child’s brain actually changes” after watching “SpongeBob SquarePants” and could lead the brain to develop ADHD-like impulses. The study was broken down like this: 60 pre school-aged children (age 4) were divided into three groups of 20. Group one was shown nine minutes of an educational cartoon. Group two was asked to draw pictures for nine minutes and group three watched nine minutes of “SpongeBob SquarePants.” After each group had completed its activity, researchers tested characteristics such as impulse behavior, cognitive ability and following instructions. Kids who watched “SpongeBob” did about half as well as kids in the other two groups. Researchers concluded that the frequency at which scenes change in the show (about every nine seconds) was too much action for a child whose brain is still in the early stages of cognitive development to handle. While this is all quite intriguing research, you’re probably asking yourself what point I’m trying to get at. Well here it is.
The Parents Television Council is so laser-focused on what it believes is behavior on TV that could potentially harm and negatively influence children instead of looking at what really is harming children. Out of the 8.32 million viewers “Sons of Anarchy” got, 5.55 million were in the age range of 18-49, something that the PTC shouldn’t even be concerning itself with. It’s highly doubtful that a child is tuning in at 10 p.m. to catch a glimpse of the bad-ass bikers. However 39 percent of “SpongeBob SquarePants” viewers are between the ages of 2 and 5, and it’s most likely that the parents of those kids are the ones putting that show on.
So perhaps the PTC can stop worrying about the content of a show that has a very small chance of actually reaching children, and be more concerned about what has been proven to really harm kids’ brains. Some words of wisdom to the Parents Television Council: Stop worrying about “Sons of Anarchy,” and start worrying about who lives in a pineapple under the sea.
Do you think the PTC needs to lay off “Sons of Anarchy”? Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
