On the SNL premiere last night* and Sunday Morning this morning, she was booted from Sesame Street because she’s too hot for some parents. She’s got the cut scene — “Come on Elmo don’t you want to play?” — on her YouTube channel. Three million views and counting. Said Sesame Street:
“Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver. We also value our viewer’s opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube.”
Come on parents, grow up! Is this about your squeamishness or what’s good for kids? (The PBS ombudsman guessed another inch of dress could have saved the segment.) Take a look at the smart Dutch take on teen sex:
Dutch parents…downplay the dangerous and difficult sides of teenage sexuality, tending to normalize it. They speak of readiness (er aan toe zijn), a process of becoming physically and emotionally ready for sex that they believe young people can self-regulate, provided they’ve been encouraged to pace themselves and prepare adequately. Rather than emphasizing gender battles, Dutch parents talk about sexuality as emerging from relationships and are strikingly silent about gender conflicts. And unlike Americans who are often skeptical about teenagers’ capacities to fall in love, they assume that even those in their early teens fall in love. They permit sleepovers, even if that requires an “adjustment” period to overcome their feelings of discomfort, because they feel obliged to stay connected and accepting as sex becomes part of their children’s lives.
The upshot:
“In 2007, births to American teens (ages fifteen to nineteen) were eight times as high as in the Netherlands,” reports Schalet, and the Netherlands generally whoops on the states in terms of STD rates, too. What’s more, “it also appears that having sex outside of the context of monogamous romantic relationships isn’t as common among Dutch adolescents, especially older ones, as among their American counterparts.
FROM THE ARCHIVE: Talk to your kids about sex!
* The video of Perry’s Sesame Street send-up last night is being pulled as fast as it’s posted. When NBC puts it up, so will I.