Feature Article: Toilet Talk - The New Generation

Andy Griffiths orientates his readers with the acceptable literary phrasing, "This is my story. It really happened. It's all true." These first words read upon opening a copy of "The Day My Bum Went Psycho" lead children to believe that the story links to reality. A story of deranged, maniacal bums detaching themselves from their owners, and running away in an attempt of world domination... or 'bummification' as Griffiths has expressed it, transfers to reality in the minds of children. Pop culture is causing Australian children's perception of socially acceptable behaviour and values to plummet.

With language that has been dumb-downed further than Paris Hilton's vocabulary, The Day My Bum Went Psycho is one of the many troubling books being fed to today's pre-teens, attempting to encourage them to read. Little consideration appears to be given to all of the detrimental outcomes that eventuate from reading such books.

In today's society, the language that is heard from adolescents unfortunately is appalling to say the least.

Bart's nude scene in The Simpsons Movie.

Popular Culture

English: Barnstar for WikiProject Popular Culture

It is becoming almost commonplace to hear racist, sexist, derogatory or simply crass and vulgar language (toilet-talk). Such language can even be heard in everyday conversation.

Only recently I was forced to change queues at a local grocery store, in order to escape an onslaught of profanities, which were parrying between two teenage girls in front of me. Such conduct demonstrated a total lack of social consideration.

While many forms of popular culture are assuredly to blame for this inexcusable behaviour, the newest medium of pop culture, pre-teen literature, is equally at fault. Phrases such as "You idiot!"... "You absolute idiot! You idiotic stupid moronic bloody idiotic idiot!"... "You crazy lame-brained pathetic dumb klutz fool!" (from The Day My Bum Went Psycho) certainly prove this.

How can such writing hope to expand the...