Where have all the "Square Pegs" gone?

MTV wants to address issues that contemporary teenagers face in their daily lives so they come up with the show "Skins." The commercials scare me from wanting to raise a child in our ever evolving society. When I taught high school back in the mid 90s, I heard first hand what goes on in the lives of young people. I tried to recall if my own adolescent years were as risque. I know I had a difficult time as a teenager. High school was tough.  All the hardships and adjustments teenagers go through are extremely difficult; do they need to be glorified and brought to life as some form of entertainment?

When I was young I did anything and everything I could to be viewed as "cool." Most of the time I looked to what little bit of television my parents would let me watch for tips. Such an outlook on life lead to a steady stream of bad decisions and poor wardrobe choices. The stimuli from the outside world was nothing like it is in 2011. Being cool took a lot of hard work and imagination. Cable television, in the form of Super TV, did not offer very much. However, I still did manage to break the law, lye, cheat, wear clothes that definitely did not flatter and act like a completely disrespectful jerk...and this came from watching Willie Ames on "Eight is Enough."

As I got older I attempted to become a more quiet and brooding type of detective. Many times I would sneak out of the house to smoke Lucky Strikes in the shadows, but my Miami Vice pastels did not keep me hidden very well. The chicken coop wasn't exactly South Beach either, but it was what it was for a teenager on the Eastern Shore before the housing boom (before Easton Club).

Then came boarding school and most of you know what the result of that was...yikes. Trying to be cool lead me right to the slammer. I can't imagine what I would have done if I had a show like "Skins" filling my head with bad ideas.

If MTV wants to address issues why don't they use the round table format with celebrities? A discussion that confronts problems all teenagers go through would have a much more positive effect than churning out shows that glorify dangerous situations and create more fake celebrities. A few words from Stefani Germanotta about what it took for her to become an accomplished musician might have a very positive effect. Fill your air time with programming that can really move teens forward in life or maybe how about some music videos?

At least some contemporary television is making it cool to viewed as a little "off." I wish there had been more shows like that when I was growing up!

Where have all the standards gone in the entertainment industry? I applaud all parents who have to work so hard to raise a child in this day and age when the outside world does so much to corrupt. It must be one hell of a battle. Maybe you all will be lucky enough to have as wonderful a child as my mother was blessed with!