Well, I do not watch that stuff. I use to pride myself by doing fairly well with spelling,reading, writing and math. I am a pretty slow learner. I had to ask a knowledgeable person in here and my 'adopted' niece in Arkansas, what all these accronyms were. Like imo, imho, lmao, lmafo, btw and a few others, I still cannot figure out. It would be nice to have a dictionarty of these things. I sometimes use these, but I must admit, it does take an effort. Not that I want to be trendy, I just want to relate.

I certainly agree with the attitude of the parents that are teaching their children today. 2 years ago, my niece ( I have 4 by blood ) told me she did not intend to teach her child manners, potty training or pretty much anything else, she said, "I have decided, it is up to the teachers when she starts school." Which was over a year later. I was outraged and let her know, "I have many friends that are teachers and it is not their job, with 'taxpayers' dollars to teach your 3 yr. old child what she should know prior to entry of school. It wastes their time teaching your child manners and the ones that had diligent parents have to sit and wait to learn what they are there for. It is not fair to the teacher, other students or even your child!" I was pretty pissed. Teachers having to get them out of diapers! Outrageous!!! Soon, my niece decided she needed to do so and has been.

Now, the child is in school and my niece had her diagnosed with "autism". Autism, my ass! She is slow, because her mother did not even teach her to speak properly. The child was speaking a language she made up herself and no one could understand. Because, her mom was too busy on her Ipod, the internet (hacking in peoples accts (another thing that pisses me off) and watching movies. The child was allowed to run wild.

With one year of schooling, the child's mother has been told to do all the things she should have!! The school is starting to believe the child needs to be in regular school with 'normal' kids! She talks well, can spell, has great manners and relates fairly well with other children. Most of this is due to the childs half-sister's mother having a strong daily presence in the childs life for almost 14 months.

I, personally, have tried to watch those programs and South Park is about as close as I can tolerate!

I believe this is a multi-generational problem, at this point! TV is the babysitter for the parent that is addicted to the cyber toys that have become so easily accessable!

It seems, lately, I have noticed: Most homes have a TV in every room in the house. Due to such a large quantity of programing, No ONe Wants To Watch The Same program. I remember how anxious, as a young person, I looked forward to 'Family TV Night' Particularly, Sunday night 'Hallmark" special, Bonanza, The Waltons, Ten Commandments. . . etc and the begining of 'mini-series.' Our family gathered together and watched these programs, together: As A Family!

Now, if they should congregate in the family room, each has their own techtronic toy and do not even talk to each other. But, I have mostly observed, every person in their own room. I see this as dangerous. And that is why the do all the texting, emailing, twitter, facebook, etc. They cannot communicate to each other.

I was in the computer room of a local library last year. The child next to me wrote a 4 word card and not one word was spelled correctly. She went to get her Mom to help her do something on the PC and her Mom only said, "Shelly, we need to work on your spelling!"

Your concern is one I have had for a long time. Except, this problem is coming from parents, as you say. Excuses like, I have to work, go to the gym or hide in my bedroom and watch 'my programming' is vile, at best!

Glad to here you HGI and CGI are doing what you can to stop it. Do people even have 'family supper' anymore? I haven't even seen much of that either. Children need structure and an environment that supports them with a schedule. They know which programs to watch from day to day. But, they seldom have set bedtime rituals or family gatherings.

I sometimes wonder, if the family toked together they would at least have one thing in common. However, I do not advocate that, at all! There must be a closer nuclear unit for a family and it takes work! Which brings me to, not many seem to want to work, if the parent will support them. And I would bet, today-more parents are supporting more adult normal children than any time in the past!

Nice thoughts and posts! PGS420, if I were working from a 2 inch cell phone screen, I think I would abbreviate as much as I possibly could, cause; at my age, I can barely read those little screens. In fact, I have an Ipod I bought over 2 years ago I am just learning to use! pr