Thingamababy blog has a viral video clip - the original has over 1 million views - of a young girl named Arianna dancing to Beyoncé's Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It). She (Arianna) has the moves down pat, but is it cute or disturbing (or a little of both) to let your toddler watch MTV for its, um, videos of scantily clad pop stars dancing?
Link [embedded YouTube clip]
She shouldn't be watching that crap enough to know the grownup words or dance moves.
Would I let a three year old listen and watch to Beyonce? No. However, it's not my choice on what little Arianna does. (:
It is equally disturbing that this a viral video now.
I'm not trying to say that television is the scourge of the humans, or that this girl has bad parents. But I mean, a house with the TV blaring all day just doesn't seem like an appropriate environment for the growing future leaders of the world.
It was of a little girl and her daddy, Beyonce once again playing in the background, daddy opens up the cabinet and out pops the girl that couldn't be more than 2 yrs old (if that)... and there she is in her diaper shaking her butt like a pro. It's NOT cute seeing toddlers shaking their ass like it's their job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_UCks8O0FA
What I find disturbing is that her parents would put it on YouTube where people who would sexualize it can watch it for their sick entertainment. Even if YouTube had been around when I was three, I can bet my big toe that my parents wouldn't want the world to watch their little darling screeching, "Squeeze my lemon..." no matter how innocent it was for me.
The difference is that my parents didn't tape it and put it on the Internet.
All the dirtiness is originating in all of you folks' uptight brains.
What her parents have in mind?
The question here isn't what the little girl think or know about what she is doing, but her parents believes and values.
Sad! Quiet sad!
I know, I know- it is the Gen X war cry. I could not resist.
I vote *mildly* disturbing.
--TwoDragons
However - I didn't film it and put it on YouTube.
The distubing part is that someone who KNOWS the content of the song/video she's dancing to (assumption: her parents?) and decides to tape it and put it on youtube. That person would have to be all sorts of nieve to not see the implications of putting such a thing ON THE INTERNET. Its not like it's on VHS for her grandparents to see. "Everybody knows that there are tons of 'bad people' on the internet."
We learn so much when we are young... much more than we are capable to as adults. The difference is that children don't have any life experience to decide for themselves what is COOL, right, wrong, innapropriate, intelligent, dumb... they look to the allowances, prodding, reaction etc of adults and others to decide for them.
I believe in positive reinforcement especially for our children. I don't look up to and would not want my children looking up to Beyonce.
I vote disturbing for most of the reasons listed above.
We don't have enough experience with this kind of TV (and certain video games for that matter) to see the magnitude of how it will affect future generations. So far I think that we can tell that it has destroyed many. At least it has limited the ambition of many and altered realities.
Look at the statistics of age groups (starting at 0 months) and how much time the spend watching TV daily.
Go read a book! Read your children books. Encourage positive behaviour.