Okay is this guy a real dumbass

[The PIT]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2838705.stm

Time he found something real to talk about.

[gt40]

Is this guy for real???
My little 3 year old daughter loves the show and any toy that is associated with it. And she can't wait to get on a real train. Me thinks the psycologist has some deep fear of trains himself.

[Gurm]

While I don't like bashing wholesome things just for the hell of it, it _IS_ time that people doing childrens' TV take a hard look at some of their shows.

Too often a show is put on the air based solely on pretext, without any understanding of the SUBTEXT.

Take "Bear in the Big Blue House", for example. On the surface it's a GREAT show, that teaches kids all kinds of good things.

But delve a little deeper and you'll see that the subtext of the show is a frightening message about the irrelevance of parenting. Bear lets the "kids" in the show push him around, abuse his good nature, and do whatever the heck they want all day long. There are no rules. There is no structure. Not once has Bear ever said "no" to anyone or anything.

Barney the Dinosaur is easy to hate - his message is horrific, his kids are little plastic puppets, and he himself is a nasty caricature of... God only knows what. He reminds me of some pedophiles I've seen interviewed on TV. Yuk.

But there are LOTS of kids' shows that don't take into consideration that their core audience isn't old enough to understand that the show they're watching isn't real.

Disney is as much to blame as anyone else. Logan is no longer allowed to watch their show "Rolie Polie Olie", after an episode which involved Olie hitting someone aired. Logan went around for two days hitting his mom, me, and the cats, then laughing and running away. The fact that the show eventually said that you shouldn't hit anyone is immaterial. The damage was done, the incident had happened. Toddlers have a 1-minute attention span. Having the "NO" message happen 10 minutes after the action isn't going to work for them.

There are lots of shows that are GOOD for kids. But there are an equal number that AREN'T, but nobody realizes it. And with a little work they could be. Bear in the Big Blue House is eminently saveable... it just needs a little tweaking.

- Gurm

[Jammrock]

I think that guys own stupidity could have a negative influence on parents of equal stupidity.

JAmmrock

[KRSESQ]

You left out those Hell-Spawned "Tele-Tubbies." I'd like to get my hands on the bonehead who thought that a TV show encouraging 1-3 year olds to zone out in front of the tube was a good idea.

Kevin

[edit] Mr. Rogers dies and the drek goes on and on. *sob*

[Dr Mordrid]

Originally posted by Jammrock
I think that guys own stupidity could have a negative influence on parents of equal stupidity.

JAmmrock

No shortage of those

Dr. Mordrid

[Admiral]

Mr Young, an expert on how children react to TV programmes...

See, that's the problem with Anglo-Saxon society, you have too much "experts"

[Dr Mordrid]

What it really means is that there are far too many schools offering cut-rate psych and law degrees

Dr. Mordrid

[Paddy]

I remember Thomas and Ringo from my childhood

[KvHagedorn]

Well, this guy has a theory.

Let's see, in grade school science, we were taught that the scientific method begins with the theory.. fine. He needs to experiment now.. gather evidence. Why not interview 1000 parents on trains and see if their kids were somehow afraid to get on the train? Not happening? Theory debunked.

[efty]

Wasn't this train a character in Stephen King's Gunslinger serries?

[Mark F]

Originally posted by Paddy [MU]
I remember Thomas and Ringo from my childhood

Don't forget John, George, and Paul. Now let's get cheggered, and really give the "expert" something to fear

[Sethos]

Does anybody else hear the flushing of a carrear down the toilet?

~Sethos

[Fat Tone]

Taking Thomas in particular - it is very closely based on Rev W. Audreys books. Everything thing about it is set in a time when steam is largely dead and deisel has taken over, but The Rev has a real thorn in his side over that. His message is pushed rather too strongly in some parts of the books. All the accidents and misadventures happenned in steam days. My 5yr old still loves the books, and is now reading them to me. He also loves trains (he also loves the trams in Prague, but thats another story). That psychologist won't get a job in my department, thats for sure.

T.

[Jammrock]

Originally posted by efty
Wasn't this train a character in Stephen King's Gunslinger serries?

Yes and no. There was a train in the Wastelands and the begining of Wizard and Glass, but it's name was Blaine the Mono[rail]. There was an illusion to a kids book that had a train on the cover with laughing kids, though King twisted it into an evil train with kids screaming in fear. I thought he aluded to The Little Engine that Could (whatever it's called) though I suppose Thomas would work as well.

Jammrock