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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

#91

Post by benologist »

Jedd wrote: post #87
benologist wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Why can the little girl only do magic on the weekends - is that some nod to the contemporary assumption that everyone works 5 / 7 days, with the other two nominally for personal (fun / satisfying) time?

The w/e was 'whatever' not weekend, updated to be more clear.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#92

Post by rralian »

tclancy wrote: post #14
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 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…

When she gets older, if you let her watch Cartoon Network, there's quite a bit of content with zero educational or moral value. In fact, the latest incarnation of Teen Titans seems to be written by people my age (40) _for_ people my age. With tons of references to 80s culture that the kids would never get.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#93

Post by soylentcola »

Spooky23 wrote: post #79
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…

The decline of the non-cartoony shows on PBS is sad. I grew up on 3-2-1 Contact, the math show whose name I forgot and Reading Rainbow.

The math show was "Square One Television"

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#94

Post by Jedd »

sverige wrote: post #36
nitrogen wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really ought to get to know some Mormons ;) (spoken as a former believer). One reason some groups, like atheists or evangelicals, are so vocal is because they believe that the damage done to society by others not sharing their beliefs will be irreparable. This is why beliefs and decisions need to be rooted in reproducible evidence, rather than the reverse.

There are many kinds of evidence that are not reproducible.

I think this is not true.

Would you care to provide many examples?

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#95

Post by microtonal »

clydethefrog wrote: post #35
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…

It reminds me of the output of Dutch public broadcaster VPRO during the 90s and 00s. Looking back at fragments of series like Purno de Purno and Rembo en Rembo, it's remarkable how this was allowed to air. A state-funded Sunday morning programme full of references to sex [1] and other stuff people would find morally questionable to show to kids nowadays. But I don't remember it being bad for me as a kid, I thought it…

I also watched a lot of VPRO when I was a kid at the end of the 80ies and beginning of the 90ies. They had many great off the wall programs. E.g. mevrouw Ten Kate was also great:

https://youtu.be/9VOJEzbW2b8

Not full of sex references, but definitely politically incorrect dialogues and some swear words for good measure. I don't think it had any negative impact on my childhood ;).

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#96

Post by david-given »

DanBC wrote: post #71
david-given wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go look up some old British children's television. It was made in an era when... um... let's just say that it wasn't focus grouped. Chorlton and the Wheelies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Ng7VMqet0 Noggin the Nog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bKAYH3Sl8s The Trapdoor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEXyg1lsZc Bod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfFoj-gFP2M Bagpuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9beAp3TG…

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, but any person of any age who doesn't like Fraggle Rock has no soul.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#97

Post by tclancy »

rralian wrote: post #92
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…

When she gets older, if you let her watch Cartoon Network, there's quite a bit of content with zero educational or moral value. In fact, the latest incarnation of Teen Titans seems to be written by people my age (40) _for_ people my age. With tons of references to 80s culture that the kids would never get.

That was actually one of the first shows she really paid attention to (along with Clarence), but it was back when she was really just interested in colors and sound and not able or interested in repeating what she saw. If we let her watch TTG! on the regular now the house would be a burning pile of rubble.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#98

Post by intoverflow2 »

david-given wrote: post #58
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…

Go look up some old British children's television. It was made in an era when... um... let's just say that it wasn't focus grouped. Chorlton and the Wheelies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Ng7VMqet0 Noggin the Nog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bKAYH3Sl8s The Trapdoor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEXyg1lsZc Bod: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfFoj-gFP2M Bagpuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9beAp3TG…

> It was made in an era when... um... let's just say that it was focus grouped.

If you're implying drugs were involved I think it's a tad insulting to the creativity and artistry of the people behind these wonderful shows.

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#99

Post by tclancy »

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…

>There's a tradeoff between setting limits and teaching children what's right and wrong

Absolutely, but it's mysterious and nuanced and a giant pain in my analytical brain. Allowing her to wander off with a phone or tablet can be a life-saver when things need to be done without any outside "assistance" but our daughter is highly susceptible to a condition I have named "iPad Face" wherein a screen held at arm's length or closer (how I laugh about what my parents' generation would say about eyeballs so close to a TV) can turn the happiest of moods into a dark sulk.

The other problem is everything needs to be taught by example, not by legislative fiat, which is another PITA and a bit of a challenge in These Modern Times. Looking forward to getting her interested in video games so she has another excuse to never go outside!

Re: What Danes consider healthy children’s television

#100

Post by tclancy »

soylentcola wrote: post #93
Spooky23 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The decline of the non-cartoony shows on PBS is sad. I grew up on 3-2-1 Contact, the math show whose name I forgot and Reading Rainbow.

The math show was "Square One Television"

Ah, Mathman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgaCCxwUml8
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