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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

#111

Post by dragonwriter »

alex_hitchins wrote: post #10
wodenokoto wrote: post #2

> And God he says, lives in heaven with Santa Claus and > their dog Marianne, implying that the Supreme Being > is not only imaginary, but also gay. That is like saying Ernie and Bert are gay. I'd appreciate if the author tried a little harder at interpreting childrens television from a childs perspective.

If we are all made in his image, a bit of him must have been gay, trans, fluid, etc. etc. Or is this not how it works?

> If we are all made in his image, a bit of him must have been gay, trans, fluid, etc. etc.

Or gender, like nationality and status under human laws, is an element of the material condition of humanity irrelevant to the manner in which humans participate in the image of God; consider, e.g., Gal 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (text from the NAB, but the sense isn't shifted in any other version that I am aware of.)

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#112

Post by stevekemp »

david-given wrote: post #96
DanBC wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Bagpus. There's also Mister Ben (not sure this stands the test of time) and Ivor the Engine. (And I have fond memories of Danger Mouse, but I'm not sure that's any good either).

Well, you can't go wrong with Oliver Postgate, who I now notice made nearly half of the programs in my (completely randomly selected) list... Also I appear to have remembered a fairly small selection of the 'children's television on drugs' genre. See also: Banamaman, Jamie and the Magic Torch, Roobarb and Custard, Captain Pugwash... While talking about children's television: it's not British, and it's slightly later,…

You've given me a nostalgia-trip.

In return I give you: The Wombles!

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#113

Post by k-mcgrady »

david-given wrote: post #60
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…

In Britain, the nihilistic Looney Tunes cartoons like Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and (above all else) Roadrunner were vastly more popular than anything by Disney. In fact, I don't think I've even seen a single Mickey Mouse cartoon...

Watched tonnes of Looney Tunes growing up on British TV. Never seen a Mickey cartoon and I've always been curious if there even were any besides a few when Disney first started.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#114

Post by j2bax »

thanatropism wrote: post #65
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…

> we limit her daily screen time to no more than 24 hours. Here's the thing, though. There's a tradeoff between setting limits and teaching children what's right and wrong; and teaching them how to decide for themselves what's what. This is why kids of a certain age often get cash allowances, for example. Kids are going to grow up one day. They will watch porn, and they need to know what's what -- what's bizarre ente…

Yeah at a certain point. But kids at a young age need regulation. If I didn't regulate my 2 year old she'd sit plastered to a screen for half the day. The thing about tv, smartphones etc is that they are incredibly addictive and I'd prefer to avoid my kid being addicted to something before they are old enough to decide for themselves what they'd like to have as a vice. I struggle enough with media/info addiction and I hope to help my daughter be aware of it and avoid it when she's old enough.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#115

Post by k-mcgrady »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #42
dagw wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

Isn't one of Santa's big things that he has a list of good and bad children and you will receive coal instead of presents if you are bad? Lots of parents use Santa as a threat especially to misbehaving kids in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I don't think there's anything wrong with that but there is definitely a 'bad' side to Santa as their typically is with religion.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#116

Post by knodi123 »

tclancy wrote: post #43
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).

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.

> it's amazing to see what we used to watch

My wife and I are working through the old Tom and Jerry cartoons with our toddler, and we are shocked to see how much blackface there is. Like, okay, I get it was a different time- but the quantity is shocking. Episodes where it doesn't even have to happen, they'll just quickly mock black people and then get back to the plot.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#117

Post by k-mcgrady »

lintiness wrote: post #20
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.

i've never met a more evangelical (from the greek) crowd than atheists.

I think your mistake is that your assuming because some atheists are loud they represent all of them. It's definitely off-putting but those people are in a minority just as religious fundamentalists are in a minority.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#118

Post by brbrodude »

CaptSpify wrote: post #74
skrebbel wrote: post #8

Kaj and Andreea is fantastic! I'm Dutch but my wife is Danish. She does her utmost best confronting our kids with Danish TV (we live in Holland), so I understand a bit of what the author is on about. I was initially surprised as well. Truth is, it _is_ entertaining! But most importantly, once you get past the absolutely amateuristic way things are shot (hey, the kids don't care, why should you?), there's a lot of dep…

> I'm not convinced that kids learn lessons like these better when it's spelled out for them. I'm no child psychologist, but I'd even tentatively argue it could be damaging. I remember being a kid and seeing both: shows that tried to teach me, and shows that were entertaining. I remember even young-me rolling my eyes at "educational" shows. Sure, some were great, but most of the time, I'd rather watch the entertainin…

Kids aren't dumb... I was very analytical since young, when I have a child I'll treat him/her as not-stupid, definitely. The only issue is, uncritical people make better "citizens" in our society, it's tough being a nonconformist..

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#119

Post by akiselev »

ganzuul wrote: post #108
nitrogen wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because false beliefs that are later dashed make kids cynical? Being prepared to distinguish reality from fanatasy is an essential skill needed to rise above the whims of crowds. However, if I had a kid in a similar situation as the OP, I might have tried to teach them about the dangers of confronting other kids' parents when those kids stop believing in Santa at four instead of whatever age they'd hoped.

The premise is unfalsifiable, so claims of falsehood are unscientific. Doing this is just as bad as preaching from a book if you care about truth.

That's ridiculous. The claim that unicorns and hobgoblins don't exist is also unfalsifiable but we human beings aren't purely rational automatons that can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

In the absence of falsifiable claims, the burden of proof lies exclusively on the person making a positive statement of existence (that there is a supreme being). If you care about truth, preaching from a book is so much worse.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#120

Post by marcusgarvey »

benologist wrote: post #62
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…

That sounds like my 4 year old, right down to the finger song she can sing along with in like 5 languages now lol. Those youtube videos of people with toys are nuts, some of them are like a modern form of story telling and really well made. Some shows I like of hers: - Miles from Tomorrowland, a family adventuring in space with bits of science and physics thrown in - Lost in Oz, it's decades later and Dorothy's daugh…

>Those youtube videos of people with toys are nuts

What is this referring to, exactly? Videos of (adults?) playing with toys?

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