Our theme this month is positive self-esteem and how to build it within your children. We’ve focused on home and school but we want to chat about how much your tweens are getting messages from TV. Teen music sensation Miley Cyrus and her alter-ego Hannah Montana could be sending mixed messages to your tweens.
Consider these facts from the Centers for Disease Control:
- Twenty-six percent of American youth watch four or more hours of television per day.
- Sixty-seven percent of American youth watch two or more hours per day.
- Almost half (48 percent) of all families with children have all four of the latest media
- staples: TV, VCR, video game equipment and a computer.
- The bedroom of the 21st century child is a multimedia environment. More than half (57 percent) have a TV in the bedroom; 39 percent have video game equipment; 30 percent have a VCR; 20 percent a computer and 11 percent Internet access.
On one hand, her character Miley is a hard-working youngster who balances school and her “normal life” while her alter ego “Hannah Montana” leads a double life as a hip musician. Children watching the show could get the message that hard work and school work is good but they might feel depressed or feel lackluster if their lives don’t compare.
Miley has a good relationship with her on-screen and real life dad, Billy Ray. But too much television has not been a great place for modeling healthy parent/child relationships. The days of shows like “The Cosby Show” are over, replaced with shows that often show parents and children at odds. Seeing that behavior on TV may inspire kids to talk back at home.
To learn how you can put a clamp on back talk, read OHealthy’s article Putting Back Talk Behind You.
What impact do you think Hannah Montana and other role models have on your tweens?
Tags: Hannah Montana, media, onslow memorial hospital, tweens
