Another ITYS Moment? TV/Pop culture really DOES influence kids

Aug 24, 2012 | 0 comments

by Tom Shaheen

In the early years of my history here at the Pennsylvania Family Institute and at least through the 1990s, we – along with national groups such as Focus on the Family, Parents Television Council and others – warned about the influence of “pop culture” (TV, Hollywood, popular music) on attitudes and behavior of young people. Christian leaders Dr. James Dobson and Gary Bauer wrote a widely read book addressing it called Children at Risk. Author and speaker Bob DeMoss spoke to large audiences of mostly Christian parents in a presentation called A Generation at Risk (Pennsylvania Family Institute brought this program to theaters and convention halls in Pittsburgh, West Chester, Erie and other cities).

The collective response from the news media, the Hollywood crowd, the ACLU, the political left, some ivory tower professors academics, and others was somewhere between shrugs (no bid deal!) to mockery (there go those prudes again) to outright denial of any consequences or influence.

Now the “I TOLD YOU SO” moment:
Liberal column Jonathan Chait has an article in New York Magazine that says WE WERE RIGHT! Thanks to Justin Taylor for pointing this out on his blog, worth reading:  Between Two Worlds.

Full New York Magazine article here.