No kids TV?
He can't Bear the idea
I’m talking of course about “Bear in the Big Blue House Live,” which is just like the TV show “Bear in the Big Blue House,” except it’s live, and the bear is right there in front of you. This garnered disparate reactions among my children; my 4-year-old was enchanted, while my 2-year-old seemed concerned that the bear might at any moment walk into the audience and swallow him, which is much less likely to happen when you’re watching him on TV.
In the end, though, they both loved it, and I did too. But it did get me thinking about what kind of messages my kids are getting from some of these programs they enjoy so much. For instance, “educational” or not, I’ve always said I don’t want my kids watching a show featuring giant mutant space babies with TVs in their tummies. Yes, I’m referring to “Meet the Press.”
Then there’s “Dora the Explorer.” She’s been called a good role model for girls, if you don’t mind the idea of your daughter getting into a car driven by a squirrel who has to be reminded to brake by yelling “stop” in Spanish. Or “Dragon Tales,” the show about two kids who travel to “Dragon Land,” where all their playmates fly around and breath fire; it’s like sending your kid to day care at Cirque du Soleil.
Another popular program is “Blue’s Clues,” which spotlights the relationship between a grown man, his cartoon dog and their household appliances. They act like this is completely normal, although I’m thinking that if your salt-and-pepper shakers have found a way to procreate, finding clues should be the least of your concerns.
The hardest show to peg, though, is “The Wiggles,” featuring four men who sing and dance and exhibit funny character traits, like narcolepsy. For years I’ve been trying to figure out the educational value of this, until I finally realized what makes it so great: Of all the shows out there, there is only one that actually gets my kids off the couch, singing, jumping and dancing, at some points even joining arms and doing a kick line. Yes, I’m referring to “Meet the Press.”
While all of these shows have their quirks, I find it hard to believe they’re really frying my kids’ brain synapses, as a recent study claimed. Particularly a show like “Bear in the Big Blue House,” which is funny and engaging and teaches kids about everything from sharing to respecting others to potty training. (Although I admit I really didn’t need to see Tutter the mouse actually get on the toilet, as he does in “Potty Time with Bear.” Even a little blue puppet deserves some dignity.)
In fact, most of the shows aimed at preschoolers seem to be impressively appropriate for that age group, especially when compared to the increasingly gross PG-rated Disney fare. As I’ve said before, we’re lucky “Snow White” didn’t come out today, because the world is better off without a dwarf named “Gassy.”
No, I’ll take a little Bear, or Blue, or even Barney any day, as long as the TV watching is balanced by exercise and activities, which will continue to be handled primarily by my wife. For my part, I’ll keep taking them to the live-on-stage versions of their favorite shows, although next time I might get seats farther back.
I didn’t like how that bear was looking at my popcorn.