Kenya TV Programming Tragedy

Many people in Kenya are concerned about the Kenya TV Programming Tragedy. They are asking why there is so much moral decadence among our youth. Many a people have blamed it on inadequate parenting, others blame the neighbors children and others blame the government.

Although everybody is to blame, the biggest blame falls squarely on out TV and FM stations. Here are my reasons why.

Nowadays, most parents in Kenya are working class. They leave the house at 5 am and return at 9 pm leaving children who are mostly below 3 or 4 years at home under the care of the house-girl.

Now, let me ask, when they are left in the house, what do they do, assuming the house-girl is morally upright? Your guess is as good as mine, THEY WATCH TV.

One of my question is when the TV programming is done, do the programmers have the children left at home in mind or do they have the house-girl in mind?

Some people will say programmers have the house-girls and house wives in mind, which brings me to the second question, why then don’t the children get airtime at all especially during weekdays?

I am asking this because, for the example, Citizen TV was ranked as the TV station with the highest viewership in Kenya and on weekdays none and I repeat none of the programes is meant for the children. All of the programs are for adults.

Now, you will hear TV stations asking the question why our children’s behaviour is immoral and weird. My answer to them will be ‘It is because, instead of assisting our very busy parents in parenting the children, you are busy pumping adult content in their children in their absence.’

This may sound harsh but truth be told, the media is the opinion maker and shaper of our politics, our thoughts and our behaviour as adults and also our children.

So my media fraternity, to start moulding our children right from childhood let us give focus to the child. For example instead of bringing children-irrelevant programs like ‘Afrosinema’ at 9 am, get a relevant children program or sponsor a company to produce children programs for you.

By doing this the media will not be blamed on its part for not nurturing our future generation. Things like project X will become a thing of the past and we will correct this Kenya TV Programming Tragedy.