Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s pretty clear that entertainment today has veered from telling a simple story to pushing an agenda. Most television shows or movies are in some way leading the charge on selling society, and especially children, a hot take on morality that blurs the lines between absolute right vs. wrong.
Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the LGBTQ agenda and the espousal of transgenderism in schools and media. While this new form of sexual revolution is making its way into classrooms and TV shows, America’s children are being repeatedly traumatized and weakened with their exposure to this attack on the traditional, God-designed family unit.
The infiltration is subtle and easy to miss. Sexual themes are often slipped deftly into preschool cartoons – while busy parents are washing dishes or making phone calls, a split second of blatant propaganda can flash across the screen. You may not even know it’s happening, but your kids are being affected by this conditioning.
Unfortunately, shows and literature today are beginning to reflect the cultural shift, and if you are a Christian parent: look out! Books and shows focused on sexual topics and Critical Race Theory are everywhere.
Today, let’s take a look at a few television shows or platforms and companies to steer clear of if you have very young children – particularly preschoolers - who are innocent and impressionable.
Noggin
This is an entertainment organization/brand that was launched by Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop. It is now available as a downloadable app on any smart device, including the “kid-safe” Amazon Fire tablet. However, Noggin provides preschoolers with instant access to Nick shows like Peppa Pig and Blue’s Clues.
In 2021, Blue’s Clues, the once-classically safe preschooler TV show was sullied with an episode of the classic Blue’s Clues character facilitating a Pride Month parade, complete with non-binary animals. CBN News additionally reported that the episode included a song celebrating transgender, pansexual, and lesbian parents, along with a singing drag queen. The outlet further reported that the microphone that the drag queen was holding featured the “black power” fist.
Keep in mind that this show is most broadly viewed by babies and preschool kids.
Even worse, the much-beloved children’s classic, Peppa Pig, recently introduced a lesbian couple to its show. A polar bear tells the audience, “I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor, and one mummy cooks spaghetti. I love spaghetti.”
We live in a free country where everyone is free to choose to live as they wish – but why do entertainment industries insist on introducing adult themes to the most vulnerable and innocent members of society?
Disney Plus
Sadly, Disney is not the bastion of family-friendly entertainment that it once was. The streaming platform itself offers countless shows that are far from child appropriate. Even the beloved character Goofy has not gone untarnished in the social justice battle for our kids’ souls. A new short titled, Goofy in How to Stay at Home, schools kids in the art of sheltering-in-place and the “right” way to wear a facemask. Disney Plus additionally offers shows like Dino Ranch, which was caught red-handed for smuggling in a scene featuring two “daddy” dinosaurs. Disney also offers disclaimers for its classic movies before they stream on user’s devices, citing a “mistreatment” or “negative” depictions of culture and people (CRT trigger words).
New Disney releases like Buzz Lightyear feature a lesbian kissing scene (the movie subsequently tanked at the box office, thanks to its ‘woke’ agenda), and She-Hulk, which offers an absurd feminist take on the original Marvel storyline. Yet another Disney Plus show, Baymax (from the hit Disney film, Big Hero 6), hits kids again with more adult themes by offering an episode centered on menstruation and feminine hygiene products. The episode even includes an encounter between a character who appears male, suggesting that he purchases feminine pads for himself, which introduces the concept that men can have periods, per Faith Wire.
Notice, too, that the transgender character is also wearing a blue, white, and pink shirt – the colors of the transgender pride flag.
The conditioning is subtle – but man, it’s loud.
Sounds great, right?
Hulu
This streaming platform offers a plethora of problematic entertainment for kids and adults alike, and parents should never allow kids to access Hulu streaming without adult supervision. One of their newest shows, a Disney-owned adult FX series called Little Demon, focuses on the 13 year-old demon spawn daughter of Satan himself, a character referred to as the “Antichrist.” The show features graphic nudity, violence, and occultist Satanism that has prompted the Christian conservative group “One Million Moms” to raise the alarm bells on the show’s horrific content.
While the show is not marketed to kids, it is available on the platform, and unsupervised children could easily stumble across the animated show and begin watching it.
Also, be warned: the Hulu streaming app can automatically start streaming another show or movie when the one that you have selected has ended. Pay attention to what your kids are watching – don’t check out!
Netflix
Beware of Netflix! While shows like Shaun the Sheep and Cocomelon have generally proven to be unproblematic for kids, the streaming platform has come under fire for promoting graphic and wildly inappropriate content for families. In 2022, Netflix canceled a CRT-themed animated preschool show called “Antiracist Baby,” which was inspired by radical left-wing activist Ibram X. Kendi, due to backlash from American audiences.
Netflix also promotes shows like Stranger Things, which are extremely dark, violent, and graphic. In fact, the newest season of Stranger Things is the darkest yet, with occult depictions of demonic possession, whilst simultaneously attempting to sell kids on the “cool factor” of joining the “Hellfire Club” depicted in the story.
Amazon Fire Tablets for Kids
Parents, be very careful with Amazon devices. The “kid-friendly” Amazon tablets can access the Internet, and tablets that are connected to WiFi will feature a carousel of content that is curated and “safe” for kids. Unfortunately, much of the content offered to children is highly suspect.
Personally, my three-year-old has an Amazon Fire tablet that we purchased for her with the express purpose of using it to entertain her for 1-2 hours at a time during a cross-country road trip. My husband and I were able to download games and TV episodes that we found appropriate and leave it at that, turning off the device’s internet access capabilities while we were traveling.
However, at home, I discovered that the device can connect easily to the internet, and my child is apparently very proficient at pulling down the menu bar and tapping the “WiFi” icon. Imagine my surprise when, during her allotted “screentime” for the day, she had pulled up an Amazon book carousel featuring titles like, “Let’s Talk About Race,” by Julius Lester, as well as dozens of TV shows for kids through Prime and other companies that I have never vetted or watched before (because who the heck knows what they’re putting into their shows, right?).
Be aware, as well, that Amazon Fire tablets offer downloads for apps like Noggin (which we talked about before), as well as direct access to shows like Peppa Pig. All kids have to do is turn on the WiFi.
As a busy mom, I understand the allure of screentime, and I personally don’t ban devices from my house. I just heavily supervise them – as I believe all parents should be doing. We can’t escape from devices and technology, so we might as well get engaged and learn how to deal with them appropriately!
We don’t have to be scared of our devices, but we should be informed and aware of their potential to do harm.
You can run but you can’t hide
This is just a small sampling of things to be aware of when you’re diving into the wide world of apps and streaming. The reality is that your kids are going to be exposed to media much earlier – and much easier – than any other generation before. Kids are carrying smart phones with social media apps like TikTok, and they are sharing that content at school and even at church – and yes, with the kids who don’t have smart devices themselves.
The best strategy to prepare your kids for agenda overload is to supervise their technology input, communicate with them about what they’re hearing and seeing at school and at their friend’s homes, and to provide them with a firm Biblical foundation of truth. If your children know what is right, then they will automatically alert on what is wrong.
Resources:
Mama Bear Apologetics: Guide to Sexuality
Live Your Truth & Other Lies by Alisa Childers (available for preorder)
CCM Parent Media Guide - Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up for free. I work with Tina Griffin at the Counter Culture Mom Show and she’s put together a great resource for parents here that includes reviews and family-friendly content suggestions.
Plugged In - I’ve definitely recommended this site before, but I’ll do it again! They do a great job of providing Christian insight into modern media, and I’ve been reading their reviews since I was a kid. The site is managed by Focus on the Family.