Dear ABC Family

September 14, 2009 in Family with 1 Comment

I wrote this to ABC Family.  I’m still waiting on a response.

Dear ABC Family,

I have a bone to pick with you.  I don’t even really know where to begin.  When I think of the word family incorporated with a tv channel, I automatically think, “Oh, this is something the entire family can watch together.”  I almost get excited. I think of the opportunity to talk to family about real life issues.  (As I thought was going to be possible with your ‘hit’ show, “The Secret Life”)

Now, the content of the shows don’t bother me as much as your rhetoric and target audience. (I won’t touch on the wonderful acting today)  The name of your channel is ‘ABC Family’.  Family.  Now, at first glance I thought, “The Secret Life”, what a wonderful opportunity to talk to a child about premarital sex.”  Amazing my astonishment when this show was filled with some (horribly thought 0ut) plots.  Not only does a teenager get pregnant, but her dad is cheating on her mom, her christian friend becomes a slut, (from my understanding) another man’s wife dies, (or the other way around) and merely 2 weeks later he is sleeping with another woman.  Wow.  Now, I am sure that this is great television to some, but I have to disagree with the way you are targeting our youth for this kind of garbage.

If you have a defense for that show, (Which I’m sure you do) how on earth do you explain another one of your prime time shows, “Greek”.  (GRΣΣK). I really don’t have to explain further do I?  How do you justify targeting young kids to watch this junk?

I urge you to consider changing the name of your station to something a little more reasonable, instead of just changing your tag-line to “A new kind of family.” That’s a little misleading.  The options are endless.  Maybe ABC Half:  “Just not good enough for the REAL ABC.”  Or, ABC Trying To Take a Dollar While Corrupting Our Youth “Seventh Heaven could only carry us so far.”

I might be being a little harsh.  Maybe I’m jumping the conclusion.  But your plots are not those of a family show.  Your situations are not ones that a child should be watching.  Your characters are not ones children should be aiming to be.  In today’s world, something needs to change.  I urge you to promote the change.

Thank you,

  • Wayne

    I was over at my sister-in-laws house and my 12 year old niece was watching My Secret Life. I only saw about 10 minutes of the show and it was enough for me to realize she shouldn’t be watching it. On second thought, no one should be watching it. I did take note that it was on “ABC Family”. There were teenage kids talking about one of their mom’s not knowing who the father of her child was and they were debating whether the mom had sex with someone in the garage. It’s a sad state of affairs. Thanks for sharing your letter.