Strollerderby : pop

Kids Listen To Music Full of Drug References

Kelly Mills — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:37:00 GMT

When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to listen to the radio. (Yes, I essentially lived Footloose, people.) Even as a kid I remember thinking this was dumb--I mean, if I sang "Seduce me tonight" from the Flashdance soundtrack, it wasn't like I really meant it, I just liked the song. I thought of this when I paused, hearing my six-year-old warble, "Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me" the other day. But perhaps I ought to be listening harder for the drugs, man.

A new study found that a third of popular American songs today have references to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, and two-thirds of those are positive references, associating substances with good times. Oh yeah, and rap was number one in this, and country was number two. In fact, the lead author says, "It's not going to be feasible or even desirable to censor these messages. Probably a more empowering approach is to teach kids to analyze and evaluate the messages for themselves." So there you go. Talk to your kids, don't go Footloose. You heard it hear first.

By the way, are you worried?

Pour Some Sugar on Me: Soda Makers Pull a Fast One

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:06:00 GMT

Under pressure from parents and schools, Coke and Pepsi and Schweppes agreed to pull their sugar laden soda from schools last year and replace them with 100% juice, low-fat milk, and water.

For this, the companies were lauded.... but far far too soon it seems...

The companies have since regrouped, tweaked their agreement, and come out quite justified in now adding sports drinks, vitamin water, and other sugar-laden nectar for your (soon-to-be-chubby) little hummingbird to drink while at school.

I don't blame the big guys for trying to make a dime, but can't you leave the poor, tired, fat kids alone? Just this once?

Surprise! Soda-Drinking Kids Are Fatter

Karen Murphy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:49:00 GMT

Yep, I know this is going to come s a surprise to you, but guess what? That's right, preschoolers who drink sugary drinks like sodas and fruit drinks (as opposed to 100% juice, which seems okay) are fatter than kids who don't. Earth-shattering! I know! Yet another Canadian study looked at kids ages 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 and found that the kids who consumed 4-6 sugary drinks per week were more than twice as likely to be overweight by age 4.5.

What I want to know is, how do you get a two-year-old to even drink sodas? The crappy fruit drinks I can understand, but my kids won't touch anything with bubbles in it (so all the champagne is for me, sorry kids). I guess they don't like the feeling on their tongues. And it's not an issue because I don't keep it in the house anyway, but I know tons of kids do drink it. Which is a bummer. 'Cause now they're fatter than they need to be.