I shield my kids from television and the internet pretty well. But nothing prepared me for the checkout counter.
We’ve all been at the checkout counter. I’m assuming most of our readers have been at the checkout counter with children. And I think you’ll agree it’s a dangerous place.
I was in the checkout counter just yesterday with my five kids and we’re sitting behind two people with carts full of stuff and we’ve got three people behind us. So we can’t go froward and we can’t go back. And I’ve got Snooki and Kim Kardashian with the cleavage on the left. I’ve got Elton John posing with his boyfriend and their baby on the right. I’ve got a magazine offering tips how to please your man in bed right in front of us.
It’s pretty awful.
So I’m standing there trying to talk to the kids to get their attention but it’s not working all that well. So finally I made an executive decision. I’m not proud of it but I did it. I told the kids they could each pick one candy off the rack. Well that got their attention. I can tell you they didn’t once look up at the magazines again.
I figured a little garbage in the body can be gotten rid of. Garbage in the mind is a lot more difficult to get rid of.
I saw this story in The Daily Caller where a market in Arkansas put a small shield in front of the Elton John cover. it covered about half the cover and said it was a “Family Shield” in order to protect young shoppers. Well the freakout from certain organizations prompted the market to remove the shield. How crazy is that? Kids must not be protected. It wasn’t like they took the mag off the shelves.
To be fair I think I would have put the shield on about 95% of the magazines I saw at the checkout counter, not just the Elton one.
So you guys know any tricks to help avoid kids seeing this garbage? I’m pretty sure my clever candy solution isn’t a long term problem solver.
February 2, 2011 at 5:44 pm
My kids are older now, but when I take them to the grocery store with me, we do the "self-scan" checkout lanes – where I shop, they're not plastered with the magazine racks. As an added bonus, the kids do the scanning and the bagging.
About the only magazine that gets shielded, that I've noticed, is Cosmopolitan. But you're right – 95% of them ought to be shielded. Or maybe made available only by prescription, or from the pharmacy life Sudafed.
February 2, 2011 at 5:45 pm
…from the pharmacy *like* Sudafed.
February 2, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Well, just my experience, but I used to put copies of the cooking mags in front of the offensive ones … or if that wasn't feasible, turn the front copy of the nasty mags upside down and backwards in the rack. Nobody ever said boo about it to me.
February 2, 2011 at 5:52 pm
In my local Publix store, they do put sheilds on most of the Magazines.
February 2, 2011 at 6:02 pm
We have a store in our town that has a "Family Friendly" checkout aisle, with NO magazines anywhere! It's one of the more expensive grocery stores, but I want to give them my money just because of this! Perhaps if enough of us bug WalMart, they'll try this too!
February 2, 2011 at 6:04 pm
We get most of our groceries at Aldi, which, thankfully, doesn't sell magazines. Tell them that there is a lot of garbage in this world that is wrong and inappropriate. And then just turn around all the magazines so that they are looking at the back of them, and not the front. Of course, you then run the risk of exposing them to some inappropriate ad on the back.
As adults, particularly visually stimulated males, we need to shield our eyes from inappropriate material as well. Telling them about the fact that there is inappropriate stuff in this world and then taking the action to shield both yourself and them from it will teach them a lesson that hopefully they will carry into adulthood.
February 2, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Trader Jo's and the 99cent store don't sell magazines- that is where I do most of my shopping- if I go to Fresh and easy, their magazines are on one rack, and it is easy to avoid by going to a different checkout.
I say- you did the right thing by buying them candy- it might be time to take advantage of America's long business hours and go shopping at 6 in the morning while babies are still asleep.
February 2, 2011 at 6:09 pm
You also might have your big kids learn a prayer to pray silently when they see something that isn't appropriate- maybe pray to St Maria Goretti for an increase of purity in the world? My kids pray an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be when we hear sirens- it is a good habit to get into
February 2, 2011 at 6:09 pm
I've seen the Cosmopolitan behind the "shield" at one of our local grocery stores. (Must be there so kids don't ask their parents what an orgasm is?) However, the Spanish version is in plain sight. Either the Hispanics aren't prudes or the store management can't assume that it's the same in Spanish. Hmmm.
February 2, 2011 at 6:10 pm
I've also done the cooking mag trick, almost everytime I go to the store. Cosmo's are the worst, and the stores that do have "shields" don't do so consistently. Your post is timely, as I've been working on a letter to send to the managers of stores I shop at as well as the local news editors.
February 2, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Sue, that's great! Karen, that's awesome! I would suggest as a rule that all magazines should be shielded so that no one receives special treatment. The magazines are free to print whatever they like and nobody is offended. Perhaps a letter writing campaign is in order.
February 2, 2011 at 6:44 pm
One of the stores where I shop frequently has a wheelchair-accessible checkout lane that seems to be inoffensive as far as magazines go – the rack there is full of "Prevention", "Taste of Home" and "Southern Living". It's also free of the little junky things that tempt my kids so we use that aisle. More and more, though, I shop without my kids because they are now, thanks be to God, old enough to stay home while I run errands.
February 2, 2011 at 6:47 pm
I always turn the magazines around.
February 2, 2011 at 6:52 pm
FYI- Kim Kardashian was educated by The Religous of The Sacred Heart of Mary at The Marymount School in LA
February 2, 2011 at 6:56 pm
I turn all the magazines around. Every time. And then I offer up a prayer for all the souls inside the pages of those magazines.
February 2, 2011 at 7:00 pm
If you see inappropriate magazines at the check-out line, complain – loudly and often! You will get results. I've made a complete nuisance out of myself at several stores, made it clear to them that I would not shop there with small children until the magazines were moved. If you don't get action immediately, keep complaining. Sooner or later they will see your point, or simply move the offensive material just to shut you up. Either way, ti's a benefit to families.
February 2, 2011 at 7:08 pm
My regular grocery store has a well-marked "family friendly" aisle and I'm not shy about rearranging things either. Even little kids can understand that I do it because people should not look at trashy stuff. The same terms get applied to television, movies, ads in my Sunday paper, songs on the radio, etc. Kids need to learn how to apply filters to protect their dignity and chastity.
February 2, 2011 at 7:14 pm
Well, this isn't pertaining specifically to magazines, but my friend's mom, if she was out in public with little ones, and saw a scantily clad woman, she would say loudly "Oh! That poor woman can't afford any clothing!" For which the kids would loudly pledge their sympathies. Hey if it's a woman who really couldn't afford clothes, she appreciates the sympathy v. the disdain. And if she huffs and puffs, well, then, she shouldn't go out dressed like that! LOL!
February 2, 2011 at 7:43 pm
We have complained to store management before about certain magazines and, to our amazement, it has worked from time to time. The offending magazines are either moved or shielded.
We had a chain down here in my town owned by a conservative evangelical Christian family (no beer or wine sales, closed Sundays, signs in each store reminding patrons to go to their respective Houses of Worship on Sunday, etc etc etc) who flatly refused to sell them in their stores. Unfortunately, they were bought out by a much larger European company who doesn't really care as much…
February 2, 2011 at 8:14 pm
I like hearing that people have "family friendly" isles in their super markets, but honestly, the magazines like Cosmo, Glamor, and the Sports Illustrated swim suit edition, are just as inappropriate to the men who are assaulted by images of scantily clad women… My husband and I make it a habit of putting the cooking magazines in front for the sake of the kids, as well as to help the men of the world who are desperately trying to stay pure!! I love teaching the kids the prayer idea too!!