By Amanda Webster
The holidays are here again and as childish as it may seem, one of my favorite traditions to do around Thanksgiving is to sit with my mom and watch a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It’s nostalgic.
It seems that not everyone agrees with my sentiments about good ol’ Chuck. In the past couple of weeks parents have begun speaking up and have requested that Charlie Brown be banned from television for promoting a bullying theme.
For anyone who has ever watched Charlie Brown there is no question on whether Charlie Brown is treated fairly or not. For example, in the Halloween special of Charlie Brown all the neighborhood children go out together trick-or-treating and receive candy from each house they visit, except for Charlie Brown. After each “trick-or-treat” poor Chuck reaches into his bag to find a rock instead of candy.
As the audience you cannot help but feel sorry for Charlie Brown and that’s the point. The characters in the cartoon who treat Charlie Brown poorly are not portrayed in a manner that says what they are doing is okay, in fact the show, if anything, shows how to build resilience to the everyday struggles of growing up.
Bullying is a problem and should not be taken lightly. However, it is unrealistic to think that children are never going to be subjected to some sort of hardship whether in or out of school. I think it is better to show kids a show with a little substance and satire instead of a yellow talking sponge who’s main concern is getting stung by a jellyfish. Parents are becoming too overprotective with what they allow their children to view on television or the toys they are allowed to play with. I would bet that some of those same parents leave their children with a computer that has no parental settings.
I do agree that there are some shows on television that need to be banned for the sake of the youth but not Charlie Brown. There is more garbage on now than ever before. It seems that there is a new show about pregnant 16-year-olds or spray tanned binge drinkers everytime I turn on the television, and these people are being paid ridiculous amounts to provide “entertainment.”
Parents should be careful about what their children watch on television but I think some parents need to pick and choose their battles. If my parents grew up watching Charlie Brown like my sisters and I did without running around picking on other children, I think we can overlook this one. If someone is not comfortable with something on television then they shouldn’t let their children watch it. That’s the parents choice, not the television network’s.