As useful as the Internet is as an information and news source, it has done possibly irreversible damage to our ability to remember things. Not important stuff as such, but there was a time when watching a film would lead to a 'what was he in?' conversation and we would have to think. Now we just Google (other search engines are available) it. The Internet has given us a never ending supply of facts, but the pay-off is that we now know fuck all and would be lost without it.
I've written before about the poor quality of children's television these days in comparison to when 'we' were children ourselves, but I suppose it is subjective. My daughter will probably say that The Teletubbies was a far better programme than In The Night Garden for example. It does seem that today's offerings aren't as high quality as they were, presenters feel the need to shout for one thing. Looking through YouTube at some other forgotten gems, I found some other things that highlight my point. Choc-a-Block for example, at the time it seemed rather high-tech, (there were some households that didn't have videos), and now looks a bit silly.
Could there be a connection between the attitudes of past generations and today's children, and the decline in standards in children's television? When I was at school, the thought of the headmaster giving me a bollocking was enough of a deterrent, the same with the police. People in authority were nice to you, until you did something worthy of a telling off, then you were scared of them, even if only temporarily. Children and teenagers today aren't scared, and as such have no respect. If a teacher or a police officer approaches a feral yobbo they get told that they can't touch them otherwise it's assault. The sad thing is that authority figures are, to some extend, aware of this. They can't do the one thing that would deter these little shits from throwing litter, yelling abuse, and mugging pensioners; smacking them around the head and telling them to fuck off home. This might be down to children's television; presenters used to present shows without trying to be too cool. These days, children's television presenters try to be your mate in the classroom, and who wants those mouthy fuckers as friends?
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