Victory! iCarly Won't Make Fun of Hobos Anymore

Nickelodeon is the most watched children's television network, reaching over 214 million homes in the US.

So folks were understandably upset when they heard that iCarly, one of its popular programs, was making fun of 'hobos'. Not only did they feel the jokes were inappropriate, they also felt that the jokes sent the wrong message to our children, teaching them it was okay to make fun of homeless people. More than 1,400 Change.org members signed our petition asking Viacom, Nickelodeon's parent company, to apologize for the insensitive jokes.

We have good news: it turns out Nickelodeon has done one better, agreeing to take references of hobos off their website, and stop making hobo jokes in future episodes of iCarly.

Hat tip to Joel John Roberts, CEO of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) and publisher of the website www.PovertyInsights.org, who was instrumental this victory. He and his staff brought the issue to light on Huffington Post and through a Facebook campaign and wrote a direct letter to Nickelodeon asking them to stop making hobo jokes.

Discussing the victory yesterday, Joel told us that the letter didn't bash Nickelodeon but instead showed them the benefits of ending the hobo jokes.

"Encouraging companies to be socially conscious and socially sensitive is just good business practice," he told Change.org. "That is why we approached Nickelodeon."

For their part, Nickelodeon has explained that making fun of homeless people was never their intention.

Dan Schneider, creator of iCarly, claimed on his blog that hobos are not a reference to homeless people today but rather "caricatures of the 19th century types who would ride the rails (trains) and carry their possessions in a red, cloth sack at the end of a stick." As both Joel John Roberts and Dan Schneider point out, there is a tradition of 'hobo humor' in this country dating back to the classic comedian Red Skelton. But as Roberts points out, even if the humor is understandable, that doesn't mean the jokes are acceptable.

We're glad that Nickelodeon has decided to stop making hobo jokes; even if they weren't intended to offend, they sent the wrong message to kids watching iCarly. We're especially glad that Nickelodeon has changed their tune because they have such a huge opportunity to teach valuable and positive lessons to so many. Miranda Cosgrove, iCarly's star, and an upcoming singing sensation in her own right, recently lent her considerable fame to a local anti-bullying campaign.

Thanks to so many of you for taking action!

Photo Credit: Xurble

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