July 8, 2010 · 14 comments
Tagged as: Disney
Twitter @lisa_ray #NoDisney
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Join us as we spend the year discovering what we uncover by eliminating Disney from our lives. We are Lisa (mom), Michael (dad), F.R. (13-year-old daughter) and C.L. (9-year-old daughter).
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Great to see your site up and running. I look forward to reading the blog.
Thanks, Susan. Would love to hear about your non-Disney alternatives for kids as young as yours.
Awesome, looking forward to following your journey
Very interested to see how this is going to affect your day-to-day lives!
This is a great idea, and even better that your daughter suggested it.
I will be following your journey!
This past weekend at the pool my 8 year old daughter and I heard a mom tell her child that she was acting like one of the bratty kids from the Disney Channel – my daughter and I exchanged looks, for she’s heard that conversation before! I’m an author, national speaker, and advocate for girls self-esteem, and work daily to deprogram our children from the judgemental and critical sarcasm they learn from watching today’s media, including our beloved Disney Channel. While Disney does offer occasional inspirational movies, the bulk of their sit-coms offer nothing but to teach our children to judge and mock others cruelly (and to be boy crazy!) It is any wonder that bullying & promiscuity are dangerous epidemics in schools today? And beginning in elementary school! We watch very little Disney Channel in our home, and when we do, we watch it together and it becomes a teaching tool for how NOT to act. So right on to you for taking a stand on this!
Debra Gano
CEO/Founder Heartlight Girls
http://www.HeartlightGirls.com & http://www.DebraGano.com
Lisa, how deep will you be going into the Disney machine? http://bit.ly/aIL8P2 It’s an interesting concept, esp looking at your tab on what all is owned, etc. Agree w/Debra above on the mktg. of ‘tude (snippy/sarcastic boy crazy vapidity) and shut off that valve long ago, but still am in cherrypick/medialiteracy mode universally…
Would you like to do a post about it on Shaping Youth? Have me interview you on objectives, raising awareness, media literacy, etc?
I think it’s prime for a show akin to a “MiddleSchool Unplugged/Linda Ellerbee” segment at the very least!
(and yah, I know that’s Nickelodeon, which is a whole ‘nuther story…gee, you could pick a diff entity each year as a sequel/series to give it some longevity!)
Debra, thanks for the comments about the Disney Channel and how kids talk to each other by judging and mocking. I’ve always thought about that but hadn’t heard it expresses that way before. Thank you.
Hi Amy, how deep? Way deep. As deep as possible. Would love to do an interview — email me!
We have 2 children 12 and 10. TV free for 10 years and loving it. There is so much else to do. Cannot imagine where we would even find the time to fit it in.
I’m a storyteller who used to be a children’s librarian and I’ve been disgusted with what Disney does to fairy tales and beloved children’s books for a long time.
Congratulations on your Disney-withdrawal experiment. That list of Disney-owned companies is daunting. As bad as finding out that Coca-Cola has bought out Odwalla Juice.
OK, so I liked this idea on the surface because we all loathe “The Man.” That’s why were visiting this blog, right? But on reflection, it seems like a diet, where, as we all know, 95% of people fail. Like a diet, you cheat when no one’s looking. You go see Toy Story 3 because everyone is saying how wonderful it is. You listen to KLOS. You watch Wipeout on ABC.
It’s also fairly impossible since the machine is so good at NOT letting you know everything it owns or in which it has an interest. I would love to say that I have not purchased anything Disney-owned – but that’s impossible to even know. Also, no matter what you tell the relatives, they will ALWAYS shine you on and go buy your child a Disney toy because they think you are over-protective and depriving your children of a rite of passage.
What is difficult as a parent of elementary age children is blocking the DIRECT assault at home on the TV: Disney Channel, Nick, and all those hell-ish channels because of what has already been stated — too many bratty kids trying to score with each other. I allow TVLAND (A Nick company) because it runs the Cosby Show. I block Discovery because it has some pretty raw stuff – that needs to be ok’d. With all TV, you need to be vigilant as a parent. Commercials are jaw-droppingly inappropriate, and what is shown on ‘children’s’ channels in commercials makes my head ache.
I don’t let my kids go on the computer without me, and I don’t let them watch TV without me. It’s that simple.
I agree that Disney’s response to the CCFC suit was inappropriate, but I think we are all well aware, especially since 2008′s market collapse, that the marketplace and all corporations have no conscience, and industry and everyone working above a certain level for a corporation is out for themselves. Knowing that, we ‘little people’ just have to take what we feel we can accept, whistleblow when we see something grossly wrong, and keep out the rest as much as we can, and teach the kids — as you are doing — to question it all, and ultimately the kids will make educated decisions for themselves about what they will like and dislike.
I can’t wait to hear more practical ideas! What movie did you choose for the sleepover? Where do your children look to find the myriad of connections to the Disney family?
Thanks!
This is so great! I have been against the Black Rat Empire for a long time, for the reasons you mention and more. I can’t wait to see how your year goes. Congrats!
Read about your blog in the Globe and mail. Reminded me of when we got rid of the TV a few years ago due to concerns about negative influences on our two daughters. Wishing you all the best on your Disney free journey.