UPDATE 11/11, 3:47pm: Kodak has confirmed that they have NOT pulled their ads from Degrassi…it was just a normal pause in their media schedule. SMDH, Florida Family Association. Thanks to Beth, Chief Listener at Kodak, for clearing things up on here as well as twitter:
Hey all-
Our new ‘So Kodak’ advertising campaign, featuring Rihanna, Trey Songz, Pitbull and Drake (who–we know!–started his career on Teen Nick), will continue to run on Degrassi. What you’re seeing is a planned pause in our media schedule. We’ll be back on next week, so keep an eye out for us!
Thx
Beth (@kodakCL)
Chief Listener at kodak
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Original Post:
Sorry, but I don't want a "family" that is this narrowminded and intolerant.
The Sunshine State News is reporting that the FFA (Florida Family Association) said Kodak has pulled its sponsorship and ads from Degrassi after the group launched an e-mail campaign pressuring the company:
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The Florida Family Association (FFA) claimed another victory on Wednesday when David Caton announced that, after receiving e-mails from FFA members, Kodak pulled the plug on sponsoring “DeGrassi: The Next Generation” on Teen Nick. The FFA targeted DeGrassi due to, as Caton put it in an e-mail sent out on Oct. 27 to his supporters, the show “targets teens with gay propaganda and other immoral behavior.” (source: Sunshine State News)
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Now, there’s several things I need to clear up before I continue…
*NO, Degrassi is not going to get canceled because of this situation.
*NO, Degrassi is not going to be taken off the air in Florida.
It’s still not OFFICIAL as to whether or not Kodak has pulled it’s sponsorship because neither Kodak nor TeenNick have publicly stated whether this has actually happened. The reason the group is claiming their e-mail campaign was successful is because the group couldn’t find any instance of Kodak advertising during Degrassi over the past week.
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Now, a little bit about the Florida Family Association (Taken directly from their website):
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Florida Family Association is an organization that is made up of THOUSANDS OF SUPPORTERS across America who share in the same goal of improving America’s moral environment.
Florida Family Association’s mission statement in our IRS approved 501C3 application is to: Educate people on what they can do to defend, protect and promote traditional, biblical values.
**********
In other words, they believe it’s THEIR job to tell US what’s morally right/wrong, and they use their “biblical values” to justify intolerance. Basically, they’re against homosexuality and anything sex related in the media, and ask people who support their beliefs to bombard companies and advertisers with e-mails.
Their website is as much propaganda as they claim Degrassi promotes. Their anti-Degrassi page (which you can view here) is so intentionally misleading that it’s disgusting. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna go through that page here so you can see for yourself:
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1) TEENNICK SHOW TARGETS TEENS WITH GAY PROPAGANDA AND OTHER IMMORAL BEHAVIOR, PLEASE SEND E-MAIL TO ADVERTISERS
The TeenNick channel is airing the show DeGrassi: The Next Generation which is loaded with high risk behavior. The theme of DeGrassi revolves around Riley Stavros, the high school football team’s first string quarterback and his homosexual lifestyle.
HERE IS DEGRASSI QUARTERBACK RILEY STAVROS ON ONE OF HIS MANY SEXUAL CONQUESTS.
HAHAHAHAHAH REALLY FFA? REALLY?!?!?
**Now I don’t know about you guys, but I was completely unaware that Degrassi revolved around Riley. And Peter is one of his “homosexual conquests?!?!” It’s just so obvious from the beginning that these people have NEVER even watched this show.
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2) DeGrassi: The Next Generation Point is loaded with irresponsible content including sexting, drug abuse, underage drinking, reckless driving, teen pregnancy, violent crime and explicit homosexuality. Tragically this show flaunts the high risk behavior of these high school students in front of millions of teenagers and children who watch the Teen Nick channel.
**Yes, Degrassi is telling teenagers that these high risks behaviors are ok (I’m obviously being sarcastic). Apparently they missed the parts of the episodes where the characters suffered CONSEQUENCES because of these actions. I mean who in the hell is watching JT get stabbed and then says “Oh yeah, I think I’m gonna go out and do that!”
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3)The TeenNick.com web site clearly illustrates the irresponsible content of DeGrassi: The Next Generation.
TeenNick.com reports the following “Notable Events” about Riley Stavros, the homosexual teen quarterback:
* Kissed Zane outside Above the Dot
* Became friends with Peter; tried to kiss him
* Hooked up with an old camp friend in the woods
* Tried steroids; injured Sav in a violent rage; stopped taking them
* Had a crush on his openly gay swim coach, Sam
* Punched Sam when Sam tried to talk to him about being gay
* Was told by Sam that he doesn’t have to come out until he’s ready
* Confided in Peter that he’s not “confused”; he’s gay
* Confided in Anya that he’s gay after she caught him checking out Zane at yoga
* Went on a date with Zane, but abandoned him to a security guard when they got caught trespassing on a construction site
* With Peter’s encouragement, went to an LGBT mixer at Above the Dot to find Zane
* Became friends with Peter; tried to kiss him
* Hooked up with an old camp friend in the woods
* Tried steroids; injured Sav in a violent rage; stopped taking them
* Had a crush on his openly gay swim coach, Sam
* Punched Sam when Sam tried to talk to him about being gay
* Was told by Sam that he doesn’t have to come out until he’s ready
* Confided in Peter that he’s not “confused”; he’s gay
* Confided in Anya that he’s gay after she caught him checking out Zane at yoga
* Went on a date with Zane, but abandoned him to a security guard when they got caught trespassing on a construction site
* With Peter’s encouragement, went to an LGBT mixer at Above the Dot to find Zane
TeenNick.com reports the following “Notable Events” for Peter Stone.
* Videotaped drunk Manny taking her top off, then emailed it around the school when she wouldn’t go out with him
* Went up against Sean in a street race that ended with a pedestrian being hit
* Framed Sean for drug possession, sent him to jail, lost Emma forever
* Took sexy pictures of Darcy, posted them on the Internet against her will
* Secretly dated Darcy
* Was kissed by Riley, but kept it to himself and stayed friends with him
* Became addicted to meth
* Went up against Sean in a street race that ended with a pedestrian being hit
* Framed Sean for drug possession, sent him to jail, lost Emma forever
* Took sexy pictures of Darcy, posted them on the Internet against her will
* Secretly dated Darcy
* Was kissed by Riley, but kept it to himself and stayed friends with him
* Became addicted to meth
TeenNick.com reports the following “Notable Events” for J.T.
* Won the heart of longtime antagonist Liberty then got her pregnant
* Stole narcotics and sold them to make money for the new baby
* ODed on drugs from stress brought on by the above, leading to Liberty dumping him
* Stabbed to death by Lakehurst thugs at a party
* Stole narcotics and sold them to make money for the new baby
* ODed on drugs from stress brought on by the above, leading to Liberty dumping him
* Stabbed to death by Lakehurst thugs at a party
_______________________
**The Riley stuff? Laughable…this group is clearly homophobic. The stuff for Peter and JT? Once again, they state facts that happened on the show, but failed to list the overall consequences that came about because of the characters’ actions. They got all of this information from TeenNick’s website. Why did they single out the notable events of just three of the characters on the show, when there are 40+ characters listed on the character page?
Degrassi always has been, and always will be, and educational show. If you’re that offended by the content, either do your job as a parent and not let them watch it, or do your job as a parent and watch it with them and discuss the topics (instead of acting like everything is so taboo, and living in an ignorant bubble where you believe things don’t exist if you don’t see them or talk about them.) Family my ass.
Kary's Degrassi Blog 
ugh i completely agree with you Kary. and if degrassi was ever to stop airing in Florida, i would move to Georgia or something because i need my weekly dose of degrassi.
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Hey all-
Our new ‘So Kodak’ advertising campaign, featuring Rihanna, Trey Songz, Pitbull and Drake (who–we know!–started his career on Teen Nick), will continue to run on Degrassi. What you’re seeing is a planned pause in our media schedule. We’ll be back on next week, so keep an eye out for us!
Thx
Beth (@kodakCL)
Chief Listener at kodak
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What you post here: truth. OH. SWEET MERCIFUL GRAPES, this is shameful…they are shameful. The saddest part about their ignorance, I think, would have to be the fact that they probably have never watched the show(ur so RIGHT), especially if they are saying that it revolves around a character who entered in the later seasons. (I mean, I love Reily and all, but the show does NOT revolve around him…*sighs*) And homophobia is a very sad thing to see in the world today, people should be able to love who they want. Love is love–there is no restrictions to it. And do they seriously think that covering up issues that DO happen to teens in everyday life will make it all go away? I don’t think so, in fact, I think it might make situations worse when(because lets face it, people, ESPECIALLY teenagers make mistakes) they do happen. Degrassi goes there, shows what can happen and what usually follows after IT(whatever IT may be) happens. Whether they be good or bad. Degrassi shows the lives of teenagers without painting over the not so pretty parts, the parts that society deems ‘unsuitable’, and really, who are they to make that label to begin with?
Whatever it takes! Degrassi will always make it through–and no homophobic/moral-Natiz ‘family'(I HIGHLY doubt that) channel is going to cancel that.
-Maria
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I hate people who think that they are right and that everyone is wronge! It really pisses me off that they think homosexuality is immoral wronge and that they think degrassi is telling people to go have tons of sex or do drugs or stab people! They need to stop being uptight and get that that is how today’s programing is. So f*ck the FFA!!!!!!!
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As a homosexual adult male, I feel offended by the hatred these people express. It is definitely obvious that they are homophobic, and it makes me sick. They give religious people a bad name.
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I sent them a lovely message.lol on how stupid this shit is.lol it’s hurtful and they just ignorant.
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Haha I did too I told them to just shut the hell up and get with the program and that that’s how today’s telivision is
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The FFA is always full of it. I just did some research and found a youtube video of an actor named Jason Dottley calling David Caton out on his lies.
In the video, Jason explains what Caton is doing, which is the same thing they’re doing to Degrassi now, only much worse as Caton decides to also attack Jason’s family.
Jason calls Caton’s phone, and gives him a few words of his own.
Oddly enough, the FFA has never attacked the show Glee, which also has homosexual characters (which clearly offend Caton so much). Because it is owned by Fox.
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^ ALL of the above. And Kary, I have never been so agreeable in my life. Just imagine the looks on their faces when they discover that Degrassi’s had 4 shows, a talk show, a movie, a manga series, an encyclopedia, 3 generations counting The Kids Of Degrassi Street, and their ‘gay propaganda’ along with the ‘immoral behavior’ has gone on for 30 YEARS and counting. Degrassi Mania is JUST BEGINNING, whether those moronic idiots like it or not. With mentions on shows like Jeopardy, Venture Bros, and 3 Geminis, the show’s got going ANYWHERE soon. To quote my favorite movie of all time, this isn’t a family. It’s a supreme court! I’d rather rot in Degrassi hell than join any ‘family’ of yours. Dear FFA, chew on THAT for a bit.
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manga series !?! Link please.
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Wow I completely agree with you Kary. First of all, the show in no way revolves around Riley and his homosexual conquests(LMAO)…Riley was not even important until season 8 right? Also Degrassi clearly shows the consequences of the characters mistakes. People like this make me sick. They want to pretend that none of the stuff that Degrassi covers happens, while living in their “moral” world. I mean seriously you cannot pretend that things like: drug abuse, rape, sex, drinking, and other things do not happen with teens. All these “family” associations should keep their morals to themselves, and let us decide what is moral for ourselves. (Rant Over)
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wow this pisses me off so much. if they actually saw degrassi theyd realize they aren’t promoting the “immoral” things that they show! they show the bad effects it has on teenagers, not that all people should go get pregnant, do drugs, drink, have sex and so on. and i dont care what their religion is. homesexuality is NOT wrong. im a catholic and i believe 4345678987654 percent that homosexuality is okay. they are so ignoant
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*reads info* *closes eyes* *shakes head sadly at the world today*
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Totally agree with you Kary
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lol at them making Riley seem like a main character when in season 8 he only had 2 different storylines…and they were basically on the same subject, and LOL at them singling out only what they want to convey basically a one sided arguement…..just hypocrites.
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I contacted them.. below is what i said, word for word..
What the FUCK? thats right i said FUCK!!! and NO i did not learn that form DEGRASSI!!! the truth is that degrassi is a very education show. it teaches us what high school students do negatively and theri BAD consequences. I can tell that you have not seen this show at all. Your prejudice facts are just based on biased infromation. Degrassi is one if not the best show out there. i would suggest you not pin point degrassi out as being immoral..if so you have alot more shows to call out. and if you are basing this on GOD, you have a really twisted concept of who God is and what he does. God gives us FREEDOM OF CHOICE. you are NO ONE to judge us. If you dont want to watch degrassi or permit your children to do so, then dont; but stop worrying about what others do or dont do. By the way get your facts straight. Degrassi is not based around Riley Stavros nor revolves around him. He barely even makes apperances on the show.
oh and also JT was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. All he did was try to get in his car to go get Liberty back. thats all!
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I do hope you spell checked that.Or I’m sure they’ll ‘raise hell’ .
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lol..i did..b4 i sent to them…i checked hte spelling once i posted it on here..hahah they’d probably find out my school and press charges
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the folks at Florida Family needs to shut their mouths. They remind me of Drew’s Mom. Like her, they are a bunch of [insert bad word here!!!] and they need to just STFU and LEAVE DEGRASSI ALONE!!! thats all i gotta say!!!!
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Like seriously? I laughed when I read this. I’m surprised they didn’t mention Adam? Whoever wrote that article should watch the show instead of just write it bad just by one storyline.
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So I decided to look into their website more (I was curious about how ridiculous their views were going to be), and apparently they’re also offended by Gay Days occurring during the day. Heaven forbid their children see gays in a parade! They’ll be traumatized!
My personal favorite was asking to kill the .XXX domain policy claiming that it will allow kids to see a bunch of porn. That’s where you, the parent, come in. Block it! That’s what you’re there for! And don’t act like you didn’t sneak in porn when you were their age! If you catch them viewing it, then you talk to them about it.
I just think this group is trying to get out of good parenting by making everyone else deal with their crap. No porn, no gay days, no Degrassi, no Cambell’s soup because they apparently support fundamentalist Islam.
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If there was ever no Campbell’s soup… I-I don’t even want to think about that
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they have a link that they want you to send a message to kodak ( i think it is) to tell them how awful degrassi is. here is the default message:
My family and I were disappointed to learn that your company advertised during DeGrassi: The Next Generation which airs on the Teen Nick channel.
DeGrassi: The Next Generation is loaded with irresponsible content including sexting, drug abuse, underage drinking, reckless driving, teen pregnancy, violent crime and explicit homosexuality.
The content of this show is totally inappropriate for the millions of children who watch Teen Nick.
Will your company continue to support this show with advertising dollars?
I look forward to sharing your response with family and friends.
but i changed it to:
My family and I were excited to learn that your company advertised during DeGrassi: The Next Generation which airs on the Teen Nick channel.
DeGrassi: The Next Generation is loaded with relatable content including things that teens face today, like how to deal with divorce, cancer or other illnesses, death, all while staying positive.
The content of this show is totally inspirational for the millions of children who watch Teen Nick.
Will your company continue to support this show with advertising dollars? I hope so.
I look forward to sharing your response with family and friends.
hahahahah
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LOL I did the exact same thing, best way to counter these fundamentalist clowns.
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GAY CONQUESTS!!!
I lol’d.
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GAY CONQUESTS!!!
I lol’d. This is just silly!
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There’s nothing more immoral than the behavior groups like the FFA seem to partake in.
It’s disgusting because they want to take away the right these shows have to express views about different issues, but expect the rest of the country to let them go on and on with all their hateful words. It’s demoralizing because it’s hypocritical on their part yet no one can do anything to shut them up without committing the same injustice.
If they want to target immoral behavior, there are so many more effective ways to do that without targeting a show that doesn’t promote anything other than educating teens on issues they’ll likely face during these years of their life, and in the case of all their characters, including the homosexual ones, just accepting and being yourself.
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[…] by the way, Ms. Hot Sauce confirms Degrassi has the best fans: She said this clearly because of DegrassiBlog.com and Degrassi-Fans.com. Go check out what they have to say about the Kodak/FFA […]
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“I realized when new episodes came out that you were impartial and would whine and complain that there would never be a satisfying episode for you. I realize that you did not want to see Degrassi go there. I realize that you did not want to see Degrassi turn to this issue. The show is educational, so GET OVER IT.”
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I emailed them with some updates to their existing character profiles (the good things those three had done) as well as added character profiles for Darcy, Clare, Marco, Liberty, and Emma who made decisions that I think fell in line with the messages the FFA members are trying tto convey.
I let them know they were free to copy and paste them, which I’m sure they will promptly do and then thank me for my in depth research ;)
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lol, if only they would.
But I do think that’s good that you sent that to them.
It’s obvious they don’t research much.
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But OMG GUYZ, Marco is a sinner! He is *gasp* a homosexual! He should be SHUNNED.
:)
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It’s still crazy imagining Degrassi revolving around Riley Stavros! lol
He hasn’t even been on one episode this fall has he?
But maybe they can take credit for that too. lol
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They sicken me. In the end their only argument is that they are homophobics. The other part could be taken out of any show. Little girl in cutsey show betrays her friends, does that mean a bunch of kids watching are going to do that? UGH. If anything degrassi tells people not to do these things. I think I found some people I truly hate. IT”S A SHOW YOU HOMOPHOBICS.
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Hey everybody, I saw this on degrassi-fans.com and thought I’d repost it here.
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All you have to do is visit FFAil’s Degrassi page and then click on the link that says “Click Here.” Put in your name and email address and change the subject line to something like “Thank you for supporting Degrassi!” Stephen suggests the text be something like this:
“My family and I are so supportive of this wonderful series which empowers teens as they face an increasingly complex and diverse world. Thank you for your support of this groundbreaking series which for 30 years has been
applauded worldwide for its morals and storytelling.”
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Yeah, these people have a right to believe the way they do and say the things they say, to make websites and start email campaigns and boycotts–but don’t forget, we ALSO have that right.
If you’re sick of these religious fundamentalist “pro-family” groups cloaking hatred, discrimination, and willful ignorance in the name of “morality”, use their own weapons against ’em.
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If they wanted to make Degrassi look really bad, they should have used Manny’s notable events. Just sayin’.
This organization makes me ashamed to live in Florida. SMDH
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if you don’t like the messages degrassi sends don’t watch it, take the channel off your tv package, if you have kids tell them not to watch it better yet block the channel. If you haven’t figured this out yet almost all the events and situations on degrassi happen in REAL HIGH SCHOOLS EVERYDAY with or without degrassi.If you dislike the channel teennick so much why do you “watch” the show then go on the website for the notable events then write an article about it.Seems to me you secretly like degrassi. times have changed and the events in degrassi aren’t just fiction anymore their REAL
TRIED SENDING THIS TO THOSE MORONS BUT IT DIDN’T SEND (SORRY FOR THE CAPS)
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First off I promise you that not everyone from Florida isn’t that stupid, lol. Anyway, did it bother anyone else how it kept saying DeGrassi? It’s Degrassi!
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Gay conquests!? BHAAHAHAAHAHAHA What a bunch of tools. If they want to talk about propaganda, they need to examine their own bullshit. They’ve clearly never actually seen the show. Also, some parents piss me off. “We’re too lazy to be responsible parents so ban everything” no happy meal toys, no shows dealing with real life issues that challenge the hegemony of taboos, ban porn, ban violent video games etc. People clearly have forgotten how to be parents, live and let live. If Degrassi offends you, don’t watch it. A truly disgraceful group, I laughed my ass off and got really disappointed at the same time, impressive indeed!!
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i am actually physically upset by that group. i watch degrassi. all of us here watch degrassi. many, MANY of us don;t go around doing the stuff we see on the show that we shouldn’t. so for random people, who think that they have been put here to tell us what’s right and wrong to essentially condemn us is INSANE. it’s upsetting. and offensive. that group is probably catholic or protestant. i myself am catholic. you don’t see me going around telling people that south park is a sinful show (bc they bashed that too). i PROMOTE degrassi to my friends. the show is amazing. and i think that we as young adults living in today’s society are smart enough to know when not to do something. so not only do they believe that they are there to “save us from ourselves”, they’re calling the collective north american youth STUPID. these people need to loosen up and get off their high horse because they are no doubt far more corrupt than every single person to watches degrassi put together.
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Wow, I’m so sick of homophobia, and overall prejudice.. FFA needs to pull their heads out of their asses.
If they don’t like the show, or what it’s “promoting” or “glamorizing” then they need to be a PARENT and not let their kids watch it if it bothers them so much.
This is life, they’re going to need to learn about these issues either way.
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“Revolves around riley” degrassi the next generation started because of emma
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This is the letter I sent to the advertisers:
In recent days you’ve probably gotten a lot of emails about your advertisements on teen nick. You’ve probably heard that it airs a show called Degrassi and that it influences teens to make bad decisions involving drugs, sex, etc. Mostly, however, you’ve probably gotten many angry emails about how your advertisements during the show support these decisions and your money allows this corruption to continue. I’m here to tell you that pulling your ads from teennick won’t do anything but work as a great disadvantage to America’s youth.
From the Florida Family Association’s website it has become extremlely obvious to me that they have never seen a single episode of Degrassi. Contrary to what is written in their article, the show DOES NOT revolve around Riley Stavros, a homosexual football player. While he is a character on the show, he only obtained a reoccuring role starting in season 8 (There are 10 seasons of Degrassi: TNG alone). The show follows the lives of many characters in a constantly growing cast, all of which have different issues and face different situations in their everyday lives; anyone who has seen even one episode of this show would know there is never a complete focus on one character. Furthermore, it would would be extremely ignorant of a series that’s supposed to illustrate the REAL problems teenagers face to exclude homosexuality. Adolescence is a time where many teens began to realize and/or question their sexuality and issues should not be avoided simply because they’re not accepted by some of society.
The amount of exageration in the article is almost laughable. Over one of the pictures it said “HERE IS DEGRASSI QUARTERBACK RILEY STAVROS ON ONE OF HIS MANY SEXUAL CONQUESTS”. The picture is taken completely out of context from the story and since when did a simple crush or kiss become a sexual conquest? Also, I wasn’t aware that a kiss counted as “explicit homosexuality”
The article (which can be viewed here: http://floridafamily.org/full_article.php?article_no=1 ) also lists the “notable events” for two other characters. These events are exagerated and in some cases completely incorrect. These lists also seem to lack any of the positive acievements of the characters as well as the consequences they faced for their negative actions. I doubt many teens would be influenced to do drugs or have sex after seeing the large negative consequnces they bring. There are also many, many, MANY more characters that were never even mentioned, further indicating that they never actually watched the show.
The bottom line is that Degrassi does not promote bad behavior, if anything it discourages it. Furthermore, it promotes respect and tolerance of others. However, I cannot say the same for the Florida Family Association. Judging by their homophobic and intolerant articles, I would asume this “family” consists of extremely unaccepting, close minded people. Pulling your ads from this station would only show your support in thier views.
In conclusion, I’m begging you not to give the FFA the satisfaction of forcing you to stop supporting and advertising on teen nick. Degrassi, not DeGrassi as they keep incorrectly calling it on their website, has been on the air for 30 years, won over 70 awards, and has the support of millions. I hope you will allow for it to keep airing in the future. Thank You.
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I know there were a few spelling issues but i went back and fixed them
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The page appears to be missing. We are VICTORIOUS.
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This page is giving Christians a terrible reputation. And I find it funny that they “forgot” about Darcy and Claire.
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Lmao!! I live in Florida, I’m a proud Christian, and I’m Bi.. But this is hilarious, I won’t ever stop watching Degrassi. And I think it’s kinda ridiculous how some Christians love to jump on everything that “isn’t Christian” and attack it.. I’m obviously not like that.. I’m one with brains ;)
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