The other day I turned on the television to catch up on the media buzz around the Pennsylvania primary and ended up mesmerized as I watched a group of teenage “cheerleaders” in Lakeland, Florida participate in violently beating a classmate and videotaping the incident.

My mind went from the youngsters’ desire to videotape in order to become instant celebrities on YouTube to “Where were the parents”? I began to mull over the frustration I feel about the media, the internet, and our “stimulation addicted” society.

Loud, crude, rude, and outrageous seem to be the modern themes of not only acceptable behavior, but of what actually gets all the attention. That is the route to becoming rich and famous.

And that leads me to Phil McGraw, aka Dr. Phil. His show continues to hit new lows of subject matter and poor taste as participants verbally abuse each other so “good daddy” can set them straight. Isn’t Phil with his grey mustache and bald head the epitome of the “ideal” father figure? He is strong, both physically and emotionally, competent, clear-headed, direct, and “tough-loving.”

Actually, his advice is only good for TV sound bites and not so good for long-term sustainable change for his “clients.” All he does is create a forum for his down-home good ole Texas one-liners (as in “This isn’t the first rodeo I have participated in,” to show the world that you can’t pull the wool over Daddy Phil’s eyes!).

And then I read that his producers bailed one of the cheerleader teens out of jail in exchange for an exclusive interview with her (and because of public disapproval withdrew the offer.)

Phil McGraw, the girls who violently attacked their schoolmate, the media that continues to put out low-level programming, and you and I are all in collusion. I am as much to blame for the youngster who was beaten unconscious as the girls who smacked fists into flesh and their parents. I am as much to blame for Phil McGraw’s producers running to bail out one of the teens, to put her on a mediocre television show and make her an instant celebrity as they are.

The 1976 Oscar-winning movie Network pulls all the strands together as it indicates that the media is in the “boredom killing business.” And it makes me think, “Is that why Dr. Phil and other talk show hosts let people sling shit at each other? Is that why those youngsters in Florida beat the shit out of another girl? Is that why most present-day movies and books are merely combinations of sound bites rather than deep dialogue? 

And I am to blame! I complain about the lack of creative and healthy sustenance we feed ourselves and the malnourished emotional diets our kids are getting. And then I get busy with my own projects and improving my Total Leadership Connections™ program, and I don’t bother to connect to a larger aspect of society and say what I believe. I believe most of us have become complacent and we need to open our windows as they did in Network and yell out, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Please join me to get more programs of meaning into the media and help give our kids the tools to deepen as human beings.