Nick Jr. Shows

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Does anyone know of a Catholic website that reviews kid shows? My wife and I are having some doubts about some shows and how programming has changed over the last 4 - 5 years. Blue’s Clues and Dora have definitely changed.

Thank you in advance.
 
I have three children under the age of 5. My husband and I are careful about what my children watch. I try to review the shows with my children, and then decide which shows they can and can’t watch. For example, for the most part JoJo’s Circus is okay (it’s on the Disney Channel), but there are certain episodes that feature the “Flying Froginis”-and I’m pretty sure that these are supposed to be two male frogs with a daughter-at least they both sound male. When they’re on the show, I make my children watch something else. The same goes for Blue’s Clues and Dora-it just depends on the content of the show. Although my children prefer the old Blue’s Clues with Steve, as opposed to the new ones with Joe. “Max & Ruby” is a good show, too.

Of course, there are some shows that I don’t allow my children to watch, no matter what the content. Like “The Fairly Oddparents” and “Hey, Arnold”.

Scout :tiphat:
 
I’ve seen “Dora the Explorer” a couple of times and was just appalled… what a terrible show for kids. It’s like watching TV for the purpose of learning how to play video games. The whole business with “You have to find the red ball or else Jimmy-Bob will catch us! Do you see the red ball? Do you?” and then the animated mouse pointer moves and clicks on the red ball was just too much for me.

If I am ever blessed with children, they will be watching almost no TV… if I want them to learn Spanish, there are better ways than having them yell “Vamos” at the TV.
 
I have to agree with Bobby Jim; my wife and I have three children and they watch vitually no television. But in honesty, there really isn’t much time to sit around and watch the box.
 
Although I do not review specific shows, I do provide teacher-approved links to a variety of top-notch pages from sites appropriate for ages 3-8+. I am a Catholic.

Feel free to visit me at
http:www.conniesclassroom.org
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ToddC:
Does anyone know of a Catholic website that reviews kid shows? My wife and I are having some doubts about some shows and how programming has changed over the last 4 - 5 years. Blue’s Clues and Dora have definitely changed.

Thank you in advance.
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Galieo:
I have to agree with Bobby Jim; my wife and I have three children and they watch vitually no television. But in honesty, there really isn’t much time to sit around and watch the box.
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As my lovely fiancee would say, kids don’t need TV to learn. They need to be doing stuff and playing and interacting with each other and using their imagination. It’s by spending time with the family and playing with other kids that they learn how to do things like share and follow rules and talk and be a part of society.

There are also some recent studies that would suggest that too much TV at a young age is bad for kids’ brain development. I would add that too much exposure to TV, video games, etc. where everything is scripted and presented in vivid detail would seem to stunt creativity and imagination.

And also the marketing influence… everything is highly integrated. The TV shows exist to move merchandise, and the merchandise exists to push the TV show. You can’t get a generic jack-in-the-box anymore. Now it has to be an Elmo-in-the-box who sports a bright “Sesame Street” or logo. The kid’s backpack has to be a “Dora the Explorer” backpack. And so on. And it doesn’t stop with kids shows. The whole enterprise of TV is designed to make you go out and spend money in accord with the sponsor’s wishes. And the sponsor doesn’t care about you or your family, except in so far as you continue to emit revenue in their direction.
 
I have three kids under the age of 3. They watch Noggin on Saturday mornings. So far I haven’t seen any shows that have appalled me. Maisy, Miffy, Little Bear, I think they all teach niceness. I think, we, as parents, need to be the teachers here. Don’t hide your children from the rest of the world, teach them by experience. If you don’t like what Dora says, then teach them the right thing. I’m not saying to let them watch harmful things, but in small instances, it can be a parent’s advantage.

When I first heard that there was a gay muppet, I flipped. But then I thought about it, and I can really use this as a tool to teach my kids from the start. In this day and age, homosexually is everywhere, and I’d rather teach them early why it is wrong, than for a kid at school to tell them. *NOTE - I have not talked to my kids about this yet since they are too young.
 
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AirForceMama:
When I first heard that there was a gay muppet, I flipped.
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There’s a gay muppet? Please don’t tell me it’s Bert and/or Ernie. But seriously… is there nothing that can just be cute and innocent without being sexualized?
 
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AirForceMama:
Maybe he’s not gay - but is HIV+.
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Teaching kids how to relate to people with illness and disability is very important - and very Catholic 🙂
 
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kage_ar:
Teaching kids how to relate to people with illness and disability is very important - and very Catholic 🙂
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OK, I went and read the article - I remember this now. The character is an young HIV+ orphan whose parent whose mother died. And this was specifically for the South African version of the show. So this is actually pretty relevant to South Africa, where lots of little kids have acquired HIV from their mothers, many of whom acquired it through no fault of their own from their husbands who sleep around. So for the South African market, it doesn’t have much to do with there being a gay muppet. Maybe it’s kind of gloomy for kid’s TV - they are exposed to plenty of death and misery in the real world. But for that market, it might be more like a muppet orphan whose parent died of cancer, rather than an appeal to a “gay agenda”.

Still, I don’t like Sesame Street for all of the marketing tie-ins, and also the format - everything in 30- to 60-second snippets, just like TV commercials. I know kids don’t have long attention spans, but formatting things like that doesn’t do much to encourage them to develop longer attention span as they grow older. And like most other TV, the educational value is pretty limited - they can learn to identify the letters P and Z and the number 8 without watching TV.
 
My daughter has been banned from watching Little Bear since they had a “Christmas” episode that featured decorating a tree so the fairies could bring gifts to celebrate the winter solstice. Far too pagan for me.
 
The one Nick Jr. show that I remember being pretty good was “Maya the Bee”. I don’t think it’s on anymore. But that was some good stuff.
 
Bobby Jim said,
"Still, I don’t like Sesame Street for all of the marketing tie-ins, and also the format - everything in 30- to 60-second snippets, just like TV commercials. I know kids don’t have long attention spans, but formatting things like that doesn’t do much to encourage them to develop longer attention span as they grow older. And like most other TV, the educational value is pretty limited - they can learn to identify the letters P and Z and the number 8 without watching TV.

When was the last time you watched “Sesame Street?” About five years ago, Sesame Workshop redesigned the format to include 10 minute sections that appear at the same time every day. For example, the last segment of the hour is always devoted to “Elmo’s World.” Elmo teaches preschool concepts such as “up and down,” “big and little,” “books,” “music and movement” to an audience of children who may not have the benefit of attending an expensive preschool.
 
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connielou:
When was the last time you watched “Sesame Street?” About five years ago, Sesame Workshop redesigned the format to include 10 minute sections that appear at the same time every day. For example, the last segment of the hour is always devoted to “Elmo’s World.” Elmo teaches preschool concepts such as “up and down,” “big and little,” “books,” “music and movement” to an audience of children who may not have the benefit of attending an expensive preschool.
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Indeed, I don’t watch Sesame Street regularly anymore. In fact when I last watched Sesame Street on a regular basis, Elmo wasn’t on the scene. It was all about Big Bird, and to a lesser extent, Grover, Harry, the Count, and Snuffie with occasional news from Guy Smiley and Kermit the Frog. The advent of Elmo, in my oh-so-humble opinion, has greatly increased the shrill factor of the show.

Not to criticize parents who let their kids watch Sesame Street, but I would like to think my (future) wife and I will be able to teach all of those concepts (up & down, big & little, books, etc) without recourse to Elmo or to an expensive or even cheap preschool - most children of earlier generations managed to learn such things just fine without those resources. I think we will push books by reading to our future children (God willing), music by introducing them to musical instruments, big & little by letting them Super-size it at McDonalds (ok, just kidding about that one). My sister and I learned the alphabet and numbers and such by practicing with our mother on a little chalkboard in the basement; we were reading well ahead of our age level in part because our parents read to us a lot. TV, “educational” or not, is much more about entertainment and marketing, so as a parent I wouldn’t plan on using it as an educational tool.
 
I don’t like the idea of my kids watching TV (I have a 3.5yo and a 2yo) or videos. Prior to having them, I claimed that it would be very sparse. And “suddenly” I find them watching much more than I’d hoped, and when I limit it, they’re asking about it. Like many “family issues,” ours seem to come and go in waves: we’re really disciplined and free of trouble, then we relax, eventually realize it’s gone too far, and we jerk ourselves back into shape. We’re in the jerk into shape mode right now.

I’m not saying that everyone who doesn’t have kids yet is going to give in to this temptation, or that those who do manage to banish the tv are “too holy,” but I think it is valuble to evaluate kids programming, so that you know what is acceptable to you and what isn’t. The fact is, there are times when I intentionally plan for a certain about of tv/video viewing to give myself the freedom to complete a difficult chore or the ability to rise out of an exhausted stupor (especially after childbirth). I know it can sound horrible, but by golly (yes I said golly), sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I do think it’s a joke to pretend our kids are gaining a valuble education by watching tv. I like to call it what it is: mind-numbing entertainment for them and little moments of freedom for me. Helps me discern better how much is too much.

I, for one, am not crazy about Dora, because they occasionally get a little too magical for me (wizards, trolls…). Blues Clues annoys me, but I don’t see it as too harmful in content (for what my kids are noticing at this age anyway). I’d be shocked if my child ever took notice of the possiblity that the frogginis are a gay couple (I didn’t notice that), or that the purple teletuby has a triangle on his head and a feminine voice. If I ever tried to turn off teletubbies because of that, rather than protect my son, I’d end up making him curious about it and end up introducing the sin to him, since he otherwise would have been oblivious to it. My biggest problem is that when we go to grandmas house where there is cable tv (we don’t have cable), the kids want to watch tv all the time and the grandparents add to the pressure. So I wish I knew more about those shows I don’t normally see, so I can easily weed out the viewing material when we’re there.

I try to avoid shows that show obvious sin (magic is the main one for the preschool crowd) in a positive way (dragon tales). I avoid shows in which the characters are bratty (arthur, berenstein bears), or are really bad but learn their lesson at the end of the show (because I don’t think 2-4 year olds will catch the lesson, but they will definitely catch the bratty tones etc.) I also try to avoid the shows that deal with issues that are too heavy for the age of the kids watching it (seems like most shows).

If you don’t find a website rating these shows, I bet you’d have great success just looking them up on your tv guide, and then posting questions about the shows here. All the different opinions would help me better get a sense of the shows anyway. (Plus I’d love to hear about these reviews)

God Bless,
TKC
 
If the television is on, it’s generally on Noggin or on a video of Bob the Builder or Caillou. I do not care for Franklin. My daughter loves Dora and since my children are part Mexican, it encourges them when I try to teach them their spanish. My son has learned his colors in English and Spanish at 2 1/2. For an English speaking home, I think thats pretty good.

We are careful about what they watch. The good thing about Noggin is the absense of commercials. Nick jr. has to many commercials that just give the kids sensory overload and ideas that they need the things that the other kids have on tv.

Has anyone seen the rubberdubbers? It was supposed to be on Nick Jr. this past fall but we haven’t seen anything.
 
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ThyKingdomCome:
If you don’t find a website rating these shows, I bet you’d have great success just looking them up on your tv guide, and then posting questions about the shows here. All the different opinions would help me better get a sense of the shows anyway. (Plus I’d love to hear about these reviews)

God Bless,
TKC
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I trust professional organizations such as the Alliance for a Media Literate America and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC.) Although they do not review specific shows and because they respect parents as the first teachers, they spend lots of time and effort educating and informing parents. Here is a NAEYC piece of research I retrieved from the national Web site on July 15, 2004.
Code: 
 The NAEYC believes that television has the potential to be an
 effective educational tool, and that tv viewing and other uses
 of media are highly complex mental activities, not passive.
Good parenting means that you make informed choices for your children.
 
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Patrick2340:
My daughter has been banned from watching Little Bear since they had a “Christmas” episode that featured decorating a tree so the fairies could bring gifts to celebrate the winter solstice. Far too pagan for me.
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I LOVE Little Bear (on Noggin) and I am so glad we didn’t see THAT one or I might have banned him, too. (Although I think that would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.)

Little Bear is the one show I feel totally (well now *almost *totally!) comfortable with. I believe they’re done in Canada and have neutralized holidays (Halloween has something to do with goblins, Thanksgiving is a harvest feast or festival, etc.).

We have several little bear tapes that my 3 1/2 year old watches over and over. They are soothing, beautiful artwork, colors, music with characters that are loving, caring and polite.

Franklin seems like a knock-off of LB, but I don’t like some of the “lessons” I’ve seen them teach, or how they *get *to the lesson.

Two big thumbs up 👍 👍 for Little Bear (except for the soltice episode!)

Debbie
 
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