MTV came to my neighborhood to recruit women from the ages of 18 to 28 for its “True Life” reality series. The music network was seeking subjects for an episode about what it’s like to be a “Staten Island girl.” Turnout was surprisingly light, though that could have been because of the impending snowstorm. But appearing on the cable channel should have drawn more than the 50 giddy girls who showed up for their 15 minutes of fame. Is it too much to hope that our sweet young ladies finally recognize MTV for the vendor of prurience it has become?

Auditions were held at the Muddy Cup in Stapleton, a trendy coffee shop on the order of Central Perk, once featured in the sitcom “Friends,” or the Greenwich Village coffeehouses of the 1960s. The Muddy Cup was also an occasional setting for Richard Dreyfuss’s television bomb, “The Education of Max Bickford.” It’s probably the only place in this conservative borough with an ambience palatable to the Manhattan-based MTV crew.

In the 1990s, I blocked MTV on my cable, because young girls my daughters’ age were becoming fans of Madonna, who I felt glamorized trashy behavior, bordering on the obscene. But unlike many of my contemporaries, I’ve always maintained that the small screen presents us with a unique opportunity to impart our values and principles by talking about entertainment with our children. But of course we must be there to monitor what they’re watching. I still hold to that principle, except that 20 years ago I did not have to deal with television as a sexual predator out to corrupt the morals of minors. Madonna’s antics pale in comparison to what is on MTV today.

Any parents who allow their children unfettered access to television need to check out what’s on MTV and other channels these days. MTV began in 1981 as music television and was originally devoted to showing music videos. It has since become an outlet for a variety of programs targeting teens and young adults. I’d love to know who dreams up MTV’s programming, because it reflects the lowest common denominator of human behavior. “Outrageous” has always been the reaction it strives for, whether stupid tricks on “Jackass” or sick comics like Tom Green. But it has now devolved into reality shows trolling for lascivious hedonists.

On “Date My Mom,” young male contestants date older mothers to determine if their daughters are suitable dates. See a mother pimp her daughters’ sexual attributes. Hear a young man praise the size of a mother’s mammaries while expressing hope that her daughter has inherited her chest. Ugh!

Many of MTV’s programs center around sex. I find this demeaning to intelligent young adults who have more interests than their hormonal urges.

Recently, my daughter substituted at an after-school program at a local elementary school. When she asked the seventh-and eighth-graders, mostly minorities, what careers they wanted to pursue, she was shocked at their responses. Almost all the young girls wanted to star in a rap video as a background dancer. The boys wanted to be rappers or basketball players. They all mentioned watching MTV’s hit show “Cribs.” This program features the luxurious, though tacky, homes of superstar rappers and athletes. Conspicuous consumption is too mild a term to use in describing these residences. One wonders why this program never features the equally luxurious and better decorated homes of doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, or successful entrepreneurs – inspiring more career choices with better odds of success than music or sports.

Cable television may be subverting the morals of our young adults, but it isn’t safe to leave toddlers unmonitored in front of the TV, either. Noggin is a cable station that airs innocuous kiddie shows like “Oobi,” “Blue’s Clues,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Play With Me Sesame,” and others. My grandchildren had been watching “Little Bear” at 5:30 p.m., a delightfully innocent cartoon show based on books by Maurice Sendak. But it was immediately followed by a “Degrassi Junior High” episode, which by 6:09 p.m. featured students discussing condoms and gay sex.

Some programs, like those on MTV, should come with this label: “This program contains sexually explicit material unsuitable for anyone with a modicum of morals and a lick of sense.” Let this be a warning to all parents and guardians who naively think that television is still a safe baby sitter. It’s not.