MTV's "Skins"

After watching tonight's episode of MTV's new series Skins, I wish I could take my brain out of my head and give it a good scrubbing. Skins included teens engaged in lesbian sex, drinking, drug use, masturbation, heterosexual sex, and foul language, all within the first 15 minutes. It was all I could do to keep from switching channels at the first commercial break.

The series has created a media firestorm of outrage because the actors and actresses are under the age of 18. Many are calling for the adults responsible for this series to be prosecuted under laws forbidding child pornography. Under them, children are not allowed to be filmed in portrayals of sexual behavior. Clearly, this series does that.

The Parents Television Council called Skins the "most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on your children!" That is why I kept watching until the end of the episode. I have a strict policy of not commenting on books, movies, TV shows, music, etc., until I have read or seen the original. I do not rely on secondhand information and opinions.

By the end of the hour, I was seriously depressed and disillusioned. I have never put much stock in the idea of UFO's and aliens visiting planet Earth, but now I'm not so sure. Am I even on the same planet I was on when I was a teenager? Has it really gotten that bad in our schools and homes?

Why would any reasonably responsible adult ever produce -- or even want to produce -- such a show? Or, loving parents permit this show to be aired in their homes? Or, any advertisers want their businesses associated with it? Or, any teens want to watch it?

Far worse than the explicit sex is the show's degrading of our teens. It portrays them as totally irresponsible, self-centered, immoral, lazy, anti-social and stupid. The producers and writers disdain, if not hate, today's teenagers. Now, I know I don't have a whole lot of close contact with teenagers anymore. But, the ones I do know are not at all like the ones portrayed on this show. If they were, I would completely despair for our future. I don't because I think the show is reflecting the self-hatred of the adults -- the producers, directors and screenwriters -- behind it.

The show's writing is atrocious, and the acting is worse. Poor quality should kill the show, if nothing else. I am a little heartened that several advertisers have bailed already. Maybe I am too naive, but I do not think this show will appeal to most teens. The show should bomb in the ratings because no self-respecting teen will want to waste his or her time on this trash. That said, I would advise any parents whose children do find this show appealing to get them into counseling immediately.