While the Concordia cruise ship disaster is certainly a pressing issue, a problem of equal importance should be brought to my readers’ attention: the Disney Channel is a hot mess. The distinguishable lack of wit, role models and originality is clearly noticeable in comparison to its previous generations’ lineup of shows.

As a kid (and into my preteen years I’ll admit), the Disney Channel was a quality television station. My childhood consisted mostly of Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven and Even Stevens. The characters of these shows each had charm and the ability to deliver both humorous and serious lines. However, the cheesy present day shows are short on talented actors and the content (maybe it’s the scriptwriters?) is repugnant.

Even after the original era came to an end (Lizzie, Raven, and Stevens), I continued flipping to Disney Channel as newer shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place remained entertaining with quality content and actors. These days, if I were to have the Disney Channel playing for background noise as I work on homework, it would be more of consequence. Although television is an influential tool in encouraging kids to reach for their dreams, Disney Channel goes about it in the wrong way. Instead of more realistic shows that deal with deeper issues, the current lineup of shows focus on outrageous circumstances with issues that go no deeper than surface level.

While it’s hard to top the talent and likes of Hilary Duff (Lizzie) or Shia LaBeouf (Stevens), these new clones—I mean actors—need to get back to the factory that they and their God-awful shows came from.