Susan Douglas本身是一位大眾傳播科系的教授，她深知像連續劇、卡通甚至是芭比娃娃的廣告都大有問題，給予小孩子許多錯誤的觀念。但是她發現她的生活中還是無法不仰賴電視，因為她的女兒看電視的時候她可以趕緊做完家事。由此引發她在這篇文章中對於自身的處境進行一些反省。她的立場與另外一篇David
Nyhan所寫的“Turn Off TV Before It Ruins Us” 非常不同。她認為電視已經是這個時代無法逃避的現實，禁絕兒童看電視絕非是唯一或可行的處理電視問題的做法。你不妨看看在文章中她提供了什麼樣的解決之道。
這篇文章是摘自The Contemporary Reader 第六版（原文最早是刊登在Utne Reader 這本雜誌上，此處節錄五段文章內容並提供講解）（網址：http://www.utne.com/pub/）。
Mommy, Mommy, come here now! Hurry, you’re gonna
miss it. It's Barbie's High-Steppin' Pony, and its legs really
move! Hurreeeeey!” 1
"No!" I bark, as I'm wiping the dog barf up from the
carpet, stirring the onions again so they don't burn, and slamming
the phone down on a caller from Citibank who wants to know how
I'm doin' today. It is 5:56 p.m., and I'm in no mood. "I
don’t come for commercials, and besides, the horse doesn't really
move- they just make it look that way." 2
"Oh yeah?" demands my daughter, sounding like a federal
prosecutor. "It can too. It's not like those old ones where
you told me they faked it- this one really does move." 3
So now I have to go see and, indeed, the sucker takes batteries,
and the stupid horse moves-sort of. "See, Mommy, the commercials
don't always lie." 4
Moments like this prompt me to wonder whether I'm a weak-kneed,
lazy slug or, dare I say it, a hypocrite. See, I teach media studies,
and, even worse, I go around the country lecturing about the importance
of media literacy. One of my talking points is how network children’s
programming is, ideologically, a toxic waste dump. Yet here I
am, just like millions of parents during that portion of the day
rightly known as hell hour-dinnertime-shoving my kid in front
of Nickelodeon so my husband and I can get dinner on the table
while we whisper sweet nothings like "It's your turn to take
her to Brownies tomorrow" and "Oh, shit, I forgot to
tell you that your mother called three days ago with an urgent
message." 5
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文句注釋
1. Barbie's High-Steppin' Pony
芭比娃娃的高腳小馬（馬腳抬得很高） Return
2. Hurreeeeey
表示 Hurry 的聲音拉得很長 Return
3. dog barf
狗嘔吐的東西 Return
4. a caller from Citibank
花旗銀行的來電者（推銷的） Return
5. I don't come for commercials
我不會來看廣告的 Return
6. federal prosecutor
聯邦檢察官 Return
7. It can too.
（一種小孩子間或是比較俏皮的頂嘴的說法）它會（動）！ Return
8. the sucker takes batteries
這個討厭的傢伙竟然需要電池 Return
9. prompt me to wonder
激發我去思考 Return
10. a weak-kneed, lazy slug
一個懦弱的懶惰鬼（slug指懶蟲） Return
11. ideologically
意識形態上 Return
12. that portion of the day rightly known as hell hour-dinnertime
一天的那個很正確被稱作地獄時間的晚餐時刻 Return
13. Nickelodeon
美國一個專門放映卡通影片跟老片的電影台 Return
14. pop in
突然進來 Return
15. ridicule Kool-Aid commercials
嘲笑Kool-Aid (cool aid)這個產品的廣告 Return
16. Clarissa Explains It All
美國一個影集的名稱 Return
17. so dopey
那麼笨（dope 是笨蛋） Return
18. its lies and banalities
電視的謊言跟無聊 Return
19. rationalizing this approach
合理化這種做法 Return
20. Barbie is the anti-Christ
芭比娃娃是反基督（意指與基督教宣揚的信念唱反調） Return
21. grotty lunch boxes
油膩膩的便當盒 Return
22. zap leftovers
把剩菜裝進可以密封的塑膠袋裡封起來 Return
23. up front
事先 Return
24. media proofed
隔絕媒體入侵的（防媒體的） Return
25. virtuous, haloed parents
道德高尚，頭上有聖潔光環的父母 Return
26. give up ER
放棄《急診室的春天》（ER 是急診室的簡稱Emergency Room） Return
27. cultural literacy
文化認知能力（literacy 是識字率） Return
28. tie her to her friends
讓她跟朋友有好的關係 Return
29. basic bullshit-detecting techniques
發現（電視）胡說八道的基本技巧 Return
30. simple act of intervening
介入（防止孩子受電視負面影響）的簡單動作 Return
31. distance themselves from some of the box’s more repugnant
imagery
讓他們跟電視那些更令人厭惡的影像保持一定的距離（不會被影響） Return
32. quick surgical strike
快速、明快地（如外科手術般的）出擊 Return
33. makeup kits
化妝品玩具組 Return
34. little Johnny Exocet missiles
小強尼玩具飛魚導彈（Exocet是一種飛彈的名稱，由這家公司所生產，譯名應該是飛魚） Return
35. Real life dads
真實生活中的父親 Return
36. parents in shows geared to kids
在一些節目裡為孩子所設計出來的父母 Return
37. Lassie
靈犬萊西（一個早期電視影集裡非常受歡迎的狗） Return
38. kitchen timer
廚房的計時器 Return
39. permeate our culture
已經滲透到我們的文化中 Return
40. quarantine our kids
隔離我們的孩子 Return
41. inoculate them
給他們打預防針