“Putting kids first” is the motto of mega-TV network Nickelodeon. It was the first channel devoted entirely to kids. It has been the number one cable network for kids for the past 18 years and now reaches more than 100 million American households. The other giant of children’s television, The Disney Channel, has been around for 6 fewer years but reaches 86% of all cable and satellite customers in the US. These networks have been targeting kids for more than 30 years and have brought to life characters such as SpongeBob, Dora, Lizzy McGuire, the Rugrats, Hannah Montana, and many more. The 90s brought both networks a lot of popularity that has carried on to this day. Although produced and directed by some of the same faces, children’s television of the 90’s represents different values than its current counterparts. The shows today display rude and bratty teenagers and are a bad example to the adolescents who watch the shows.

Classic Nickelodeon TV shows of the 90s include “All That”, “Kenan and Kel”, “Hey Arnold” and “Doug”. These shows were filled with characters that children could identify with and look up to. Arnold is a wise peacemaker who dispenses quality advice to his peers, as well as adults. The bully of the show, Helga, was often cruel to her classmates, but used it as a mask for her insecurity. She gradually learned that being mean isn’t how to get what you want. In the TV show “Doug”, the title character’s crush Patti Mayonnaise was an all around athlete and a very spunky girl. These characters were all very relatable to adolescents and taught kids how to handle situations that they were likely to find themselves in.

Earlier children’s television wasn’t filled with perfect children, however. Raven Baxter, Penny Proud, Kim Possible, and Kenan Rockmore were normal teenagers who made mistakes. There is a difference, however, in the mistakes they made and the intentional disrespectful behaviors in current children’s TV shows. In all 4 examples, the characters had parents they respected. Their parents held them accountable for their mistakes. The hilarious duo Kenan and Kel who starred as the title characters of “Kenan and Kel” as well as the popular sketch comedy show, “All That” were typical teenage boys whose crazy ideas almost always got them in trouble. However, Kenan’s parents were always present and he and Kel respected them. They also had the integrity to try and fix their mistakes, although sometimes that made the situation worse. This taught kids that while it’s okay to make mistakes, respect for authority figures is important and asking for help is perfectly okay.
In today’s TV, parents are barely present, let alone respected. For example, in the Nickelodeon show “iCarly”, the title character lives with her 20-something, irresponsible older brother Spencer. While this leads to humorous moments, it allows Carly to get away with doing whatever she wants. Her best friend Sam’s mother is only seen once in the series and Sam is disrespectful towards all authority figures. They never chasten Sam for her disrespectful behavior and her behavior is presented as humor. What kind of example does that set for young children who tend to want to copy what they see on TV?

It is very natural for children to want to emulate the characters they see on TV. Advertisements take advantage of this by putting popular characters on their products. That’s why boxes of macaroni and cheese, soup, and countless other products have the face of SpongeBob Squarepants. The creators of popular children’s shows create spin-off shows to capitalize on the popularity of a character. This happened in the 90s, with “All That” as the predecessor for shows such as “The Amanda Show” and “Kenan and Kel”. More recently, the show Drake and Josh created a name for “iCarly’s” Miranda Cosgrove and “Zoey 101” gave “Victorious’s” Victoria Justice her first start. Both of those shows, although canceled in early 2013, have lent title characters to the new show “Sam and Cat”. The process of making a show and creating a spin-off a few years later is something that TV producers understand very well and they use this to attract a fan base that is prepared to love, emulate, and practically idolize the characters. This can be very dangerous when the role models portrayed on children’s television are rude, bratty, and selfish.

In a 2011 “Saturday Night Live” sketch, former Disney and Nick cast members Miley Cyrus and Kenan Thompson acted in a commercial for the “Disney Channel Acting School”. At the school, students are taught skills necessary for acting on a Disney show such as spying behind a doorway, talking louder than anyone else, and disrespecting adults. At the end of the “commercial” they invited kids to call the number at the bottom of the screen. “Parent permission NOT required”, the screen reads. Practically every commercial on a children’s TV network instructs kids to ask for their parent’s permission before going online. However, the shows they create teach the exact opposite: children are in charge, and the parents are mindless drones that cannot and do not teach their kids any better.

Fan love quickly results in the success of a TV show but at what expense? In the case of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, the fans are being taught to be disrespectful to adults, irresponsible, and just plain bratty. In the past, the networks produced shows that featured characters with admirable characteristics. Now, they have compromised that in favor of something that kids will enjoy, but in the end will turn them into rude and spoiled brats. The motto of Nickelodeon may be “Putting kids first”, but displaying poor role models, does more of a disservice to the kids than anything.