By Shane Goodman shane@dmcityview.com

When Fonzie was cool

I spent a lot of time in front of the television as a youth. I am not proud of it — not by any means. But TV was fascinating for everyone at the time, and it was a relatively harmless form of entertainment.

Along the way, I did learn a few things from TV. I can still state the song title and musicians of nearly any ’70s tunes (K-tel record commercials). I can recite the theme songs from all the Hanna-Barbera shows (Saturday morning cartoons). And I can recall most anything that was related to the Fonz (“Happy Days” series). All of this without Tivo or even a VCR. Scary, I know.

I was also part of the first generation to be consumed by video games. Yes, I did spend countless hours playing Pong on my family’s black and white TV in the basement. When our local Pizza Hut installed an Asteroids video game, it served as a magnet for my weekly allowance. And then there was Pac Man. That little yellow dot ate a bunch of my money, too. But aside from the financial losses, I don’t think this fascination with video caused me any real damage — although those same hours spent at the local library may have done me wonders.

Times have changed. TV has lost its days of innocence. Video games have become violent. And hardcore porn is only a few clicks away. Some view this as only generational, but the facts cannot be ignored. Good kids raised in good families aren’t impacted as much. But those less fortunate find what they see on the screen to be real life, and that’s where the problems begin.

Reporter Jared Curtis takes a look at the impact that television and video games have on today’s youth in a fact-filled cover story that is certain to entertain and educate without the need to flip channels or insert coins. TV never made a lasting impact on me anyway… except maybe for that leather motorcycle jacket I just bought.

Thanks for reading.

Comment on this story | Return to top