The Parent Teacher Council, a group that repeatedly criticizes media outlets for creating adult content accessible to children, have picked a battle with three cast members of Glee.

The PTC slammed Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Dianna Agron not for the content of their show, but for posing provocatively in the November issue of GQ in which they portrayed sexualized versions of their characters. The PTC also rated Glee as the Worst TV Show of the Week when the Britney Spears episode aired in October.

“It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia,” PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement. “Sadly, this is just the latest example of the overt sexualization of young girls of in entertainment.”

Agron was first to publicly apologize for offense taken to the photo shoot. “In the land of Madonna, Britney, Miley, Gossip Girl, other public figures and shows that have pushed the envelope and challenged the levels of comfort in their viewers and fans…we are not the first,” she wrote in a blog post. “If you are hurt or these photos make you uncomfortable, it was never our intention. And if your eight-year-old has a copy of our GQ cover in hand, again I am sorry. But I would have to ask, how on earth did it get there?”

The cast members involved in the scandal should not have to apologize for the photo shoot. Agron and Michele are 24 years old, and Monteith is 28, making them old enough to pose for the popular men’s magazine. While the PTC is a great resource for parents concerned about mainstream media affecting their children, the organization is ignoring a greater issue.

We live in an age when information can be accessed at the click of a button. Parents can monitor the content their children view at home but cannot fully shield them from everything. Parents need to have open dialogue with their children about issues like sex, violence and drugs and should watch television shows with their children. This way, parents can build relationships with their children so that, when these topics arise, children will ask parents first.

The PTC is right: Glee is not for younger children. The show draws attention to issues such as gender, religion and sexual orientation with a humorous spin and catchy cover songs. The photo shoot was racy, but anyone who watches the show shouldn’t be surprised. The photos ran in a magazine meant for adults, not the latest edition of Teen People.

The PTC needs to lay off of the Glee cast and realize that they made a rational, informed decision to pose for a magazine that children shouldn’t be reading in the first place. The cold truth is that times are changing and most mainstream content across the board isn’t appropriate for children. Perhaps the PTC should concentrate on material that is supposed to be appropriate for children. It would sure make their job easier.