I now understand why my daughter behaves the way that she does. More specifically, there is a specific set of values and attitudes that she has embraced subconsciously that was not learned in the home. What’s even more surprising, is the fact that it was exposure to media at friends’ houses and her friends’ exposed to media, second-hand media consumption if you will, that has molded this behavior because of our fairly selective media consumption in the home.

I now understand why my daughter behaves the way that she does. More specifically, there is a specific set of values and attitudes that she has embraced subconsciously that was not learned in the home. What’s even more surprising, is the fact that it was exposure to media at friends’ houses and her friends’ exposed to media, second-hand media consumption if you will, that has molded this behavior because of our fairly selective media consumption in the home.

So try as I may, if I wanted to shield her from the effects of this type of exposure, my options are very few. To seal her off from this exposure seems almost impossible. To obtain such a result would require to home school and home “church” her. Then we would have to select a new set of friends not exposed to this influence. In other words, we’re moving to another country where the television has not been discovered. Does such a place exist? 

This reminds me of an important conversation that we had several years back when Napoleon Dynamite was all the rage. The question was asked, what is the role of “Mormon” Cinema. With Napoleon Dynamite as case in point, it was concluded that successfully executed, “Mormon” Cinema, or any media campaign, has the effect of creating a social dialog with which we communicate to one another. This is an extremely pertinent point. Try as we may in any other type of social reform or education, the media can change in an instant an individual’s perceptions and modes of expression with lasting effects.  

So what has brought about this realization of influence on my daughter’s attitudes and behaviors? Any inclination? It was in viewing my very first episode of the now some what dated “Hannah Montana.”