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What Danes consider healthy children’s television

economist.com

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Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#41

Post by johnjuuljensen »

As a Citizen of Denmark and a father of two (4 & 1), I absolutely love the danish stuff on Ramasjang and hate most of the American (foreign) stuff. The programs produced in DK are rude and fun and slow and scary, while the foreign stuff is mostly lame attempts at education (Dora the explorer is a particularly nasty example of this) or over the top animations with too much moral crap, too pretty characters and backed by toy franchises and whatnot.

I seems to me that the author actually enjoyed the shows and I mostly agree with his assessment, but he can't have been watching too much because he missed some important shows that are in fact educational.

Most prominent of the educational shows is Mr. Beard, who teaches numbers, counting, simple math, letters and simple spelling. The show is weird and quirky, but also features some great songs. The whole thing is backed by some pretty great apps, which expand on the educational stuff.

There's also a great show about kids helping animals in trouble. They don't pretend that the kids do most of the work, it's a professional that does the heavy lifting, but the kids get involved as much as possible.

I don't mind watching these shows with my kids, but I'll leave as soon as Dora or Thomas the tank engine or Chuggington starts.

If you're interested in watching some completely outrageous danish childrens TV, go watch "Carsten og Gittes vennevilla". It's created by the duo "Wulf Morgenthaler", who have produced some the weirdest stuff on danish TV. Particularly the one where Carsten creates a fox is a hoot.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#42

Post by Cthulhu_ »

dagw wrote: post #18
arethuza wrote: post #5

"Supreme Being is not only imaginary" I was immensely proud when my son at 4 years old decided to stand up in his pre-school class and point this out to everyone.

Why? Should he also be telling them that Santa Clause and the tooth fairy are imaginary? Why can't kids be kids and believe in whatever makes them happy? They'll have plenty of time later to be old and cynical.

At least those fictional characters aren't taught to kids with a threat of eternal pain and damnation if they do something Bad.

(Although in NL, Sinterklaas' helpers will abduct you to Spain if you're naughty)

(edit: Actually that doesn't sound too bad, I wouldn't mind going to spain)

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#43

Post by tclancy »

erelde wrote: post #17
tclancy wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am old enough (40) with a daughter who is almost 3, to be a little horrified by kids' TV. It's not that there isn't a ton of "good" stuff for her, it's that there is only "good" stuff. There isn't anything not geared toward teaching her math, reading or morals. When I was a kid, that was PBS and a handful of other shows and the rest of it was people whacking the crap out of each other to make me bug my parents to b…

Get some copies of the classic Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry 1940-1950 for example. (not the sixties it all goes downhill, the drawing isn't as good, they begin talking, too much characters).

Had the same thought but it's just not that easy. She's at an age where we are trying like hell to convince her hitting isn't the best option, so showing her things like "Hillbilly Hare" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9SrXRNPRCA) aren't the best idea. She's actually in love with old Pink Panther cartoons right now and it's amazing to see what we used to watch: smoking, violence, a lot of shotguns.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#44

Post by aedron »

The most astute observation is that characters on Danish kids TV are often completely, unapologetically flawed. This makes them relatable to kids, and kids enjoy watching them in all their dysfunction.

And I actually disagree with the premise that this contains no lessons or morals. Children are able to see clearly how ridiculous and ill-advised the behavior of these characters is, and so learn to recognize it in themselves and others.

Someone once pointed out that while Mickey Mouse is the mascot of Disney in the U.S. and the main character of the franchise, in Europe it was Donald Duck who became popular. Europeans like the flawed anti-hero, while moralizing America (sorry!) preferred the do-gooder know-it-all Mickey Mouse.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#45

Post by pbhjpbhj »

erelde wrote: post #15
crististm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the same account, electrons are imaginary as well. Edit for the naysayers: quantum effects too...

There's proof of electrons... Your screen. edit: there's also proof of quantum effect in the real world.

You say "your screen" like you imagine that there's more than one mind here .. and you imagine that mind isn't being fed sense-data from a malevolent aliens laptop for entertainment purposes.

Being a bit more grounded there's a possibility that it's electron, not electrons too.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#46

Post by iamthepieman »

I just turned off the television after my kids watched more television in one morning than they have in an entire month. The reason? Rio Olympics track and field. Finally had to turn it off because I wasn't getting any work done.

Other than that, in the summer time anyways, I'll usually toss them a book of matches and tell them to start a fire or go build a dam in the brook.

We usually have lofty educational goals at the start of summer but quite honestly I can't be arsed when the weather is warm and there's so much great romping to be had. When we watch TV it's usually youtube for something we're curious about as a family. The "Fun" T.V. most always leaves my kids grumpy afterwards so we avoid it, not for moral or educational or child development reasons, but because i don't like grumpy kids.

After a couple kids and being the oldest of a large family I've realized from my individual scientific survey of one that kids will develop and learn in spite of their parents. We get too much credit and too much blame.

You gotta water if the sun's hot and it won't be raining for a while and you should try to get a load of fertilizer at least once a year. I guess you should weed after the first planting but you certainly can't make them grow.

If this comment is too rambling for you maybe you should go watch something with a moral in it[0]

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xMb3X7fDYQ

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#47

Post by selimthegrim »

aedron wrote: post #44

The most astute observation is that characters on Danish kids TV are often completely, unapologetically flawed. This makes them relatable to kids, and kids enjoy watching them in all their dysfunction. And I actually disagree with the premise that this contains no lessons or morals. Children are able to see clearly how ridiculous and ill-advised the behavior of these characters is, and so learn to recognize it in the…

I don't know, Chileans sure hated Donald Duck (:P)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Read_Donald_Duck

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#48

Post by aedron »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #11

At the risk of making a tu quoque argument - if you want to see unhealthy children television, look no further than Cartoon Network.

To be honest, while We Don't Have Cable(tm), some of the stuff I have seen on Cartoon Network was surprisingly good. Shows like Adventure Time are weird and funny, there was also a mini-series called Over The Garden Wall that was straight up fantastic.

Even stuff towards the more rubbish end of the spectrum, like Teen Titans Go, obviously has really good writers and is a lot of fun, at least for somewhat older kids and their parents.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#49

Post by erelde »

teddyh wrote: post #33
erelde wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get some copies of the classic Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry 1940-1950 for example. (not the sixties it all goes downhill, the drawing isn't as good, they begin talking, too much characters).

You may not be aware, but those cartoons were originally made for adults , to be shown in cinemas before the main feature film.

imo, often the things made for adults are better suited for kids than the things designed specifically for kids (by misguided adults).

Kids aren't dumb, they just lack refined thinking models adults develop as they grow up. Eg: I think we all have experienced reading again something we read young and loved and finding a lot more meaning in it.

(I'd still avoid showing some things to them of course.)

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#50

Post by larsiusprime »

aedron wrote: post #44

The most astute observation is that characters on Danish kids TV are often completely, unapologetically flawed. This makes them relatable to kids, and kids enjoy watching them in all their dysfunction. And I actually disagree with the premise that this contains no lessons or morals. Children are able to see clearly how ridiculous and ill-advised the behavior of these characters is, and so learn to recognize it in the…

Mickey Mouse in his original incarnations was actually a bit of a miscreant!
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