GOD I MISS THE 80'S

They're showing a ton of 'Growing Pains' on Nick At Night and I am in my glory. What a ridiculous and wonderful show. I remember watching this as a kid and being absolutely obsessed with Kirk Cameron and the Seaver family.



How I wished I'd had a dad like Jason: the giant, bouffant hairdo and Members Only jacket. I loved their house. I loved that the show revolved around Mike's devilish little grin. I loved their perfect family and the fact that there was a moral at the end of each episode that usually culminated in two or more of the family members hugging and everything being okay.

Watching it now and comparing it to today's TV shows, it dawns on me that even though the Seavers are as far from reality as you can get, at least the producers were TRYING to get a good message across. Kids are impressionable. They're gonna watch the show for Kirk Cameron, so there may as well be a good lesson behind each show. And I loved being taken from my reality, if only for 30 minutes each week.

TV sitcoms these days usually consist of model-beautiful kids being mean to one another. The meaner they are, the more laughs. The humor is a lot less wholesome. They freely use 'crap' and 'suck' as if they weren't the slightest bit derogatory. And yeah, I certainly used those words and worse when I was a kid, but they weren't so blasé.

I guess I'm officially old now, blaming the media for what's wrong with the world. Things just feel out of control. The other day, one of my students asked what I used to do in my free time when I was in middle school.

"Ride my bike... play with my friends. Remember, we didn't have the Internet back then," I replied.

The kid's jaw dropped to the floor, "NO INTERNET?" The HORROR!

Weird as it may sound, if given the chance to grow up with the Internet or 'Growing Pains', I'd still take the Seavers any day.