Below is a break-down of my findings, This does not mean you will agree, but I HIGHLY recommend that parents watch shows WITH their children. Make sure that the messages are things you want your child to know, because in the end the manufactures of these shows does not care about your child, they care about the $$$$. If you leave the TV on as back-ground noise (which I do sometimes) pay attention to what it's playing. Children are smarter than people give them credit for they can be playing and not appear to be paying attention to the TV at all. That does not mean they are not hearing. I play Pandora radio in the background on quiet and my daughters picked up on the songs and were singing along within just a couple days, they did not appear to be listening but were picking up on differences from the way we sing the songs.
This is not all-encompasing, and your findings will be different, every family has their own standards and beliefs. The end message I want to be taken from this is....PAY ATTENTION to what you are filling your child's mind with. Sit down and discuss to show, while its on ask questions "what do you think DW should have done?" tell them what you would expect from them in the situation. Ask them what they think will happen to the snowflake as it drops to warmer air (Magic school bus) TV in and of itself is not bad, but shows thoughts and expectations should be discussed.
My children May watch the following:
Arthur--- I especially like this one because the mom and dad are both present, they encourage Arthur and DW to get along, every show has a dilemma, be it with friends or a sibling rivalry etc... the parents always help them to work through their differences.
Cat in the Hat (knows a lot about that) Again, this one the kids are best-friends and they learn together about animals, they ALWAYS ask their mom if they can go with the cat to go somewhere and they learn about animals, what they do and why.
Magic school bus- LOVE this show, it teaches science in an awesome way....and also has problem solving.
Curious George- This one is just fun, George gets into trouble and makes mistakes as children do...and it's a fun monkey.
Handy Manny- he is a guy who helps out all his neighbors...his tools talk and all have their own fears. they go fix the town together Also teaches some spanish words.
My children MAY NOT watch the following:
Dora/Diego: They can do nothing for themselves, Parents are almost never present....they are out wandering at 5 yrs old...and ALWAYS "need your help" I understand the idea behind this is to get the child active instead of sedentary in front of the television...yet the manner in which it is executed is poor, and teated children that they can do nothing on their own.
Calliou- He is a VERY whiney 4 yr old, who gets his way when he whines "but mommy" the argument FOR this show (that i've heard from parents) is that kids can relate to him, but it does not show the problem solving, only that whining gets you what you want.
Yo Gabba Gabba-- I think the show is horrible and pointless, colors moving....the messages in the songs are OK...BUT GET THE CD and dance along.
Sid the Science Kid--SOME shows are OK, others are absolutely NOT. If you feel strongly about Vaccines (for example) there is a vaccine special you may not want your child to see, I basically boycott this show for giving in to propaganda.
Max and Ruby- Ruby is a bossy brat...mom and dad are never around, and poor max get the blunt end of Ruby's dictating how for him to play. Grandma comes around occasionally but she does nothing about Ruby mistreating Max.
Special Agent OSO- OMG this show is ANNOYING!! there are "3 special steps" to everything, but its stupid stuff, and so extremely dumbed down, in one show the kid (like 8YO) wants to put on a bandaid but doesn't know how---shoot, my 2yo can put on a bandaid!!! this show is a pet peeve of mine!! IDK how it is still airing!
Spongebob- THIS IS NOT NOT NOT a kid show....that is all!
Occasionally OK:
Super Why- sounding out words, correcting stories and dilemmas, this one I like, but I feel that it dumbs down and under-estimates the young brain.
Mickey mouse club-house--this one I am indifferent about, I am not against the show but I do not really enjoy it...My 3 YO has learned to count by 10's from this one.
Tina, I wholeheartedly agree with you on all of these shows. There are some that you wonder how they still are on air after the first year. And I would never let my children watch something that dumbed things down for them. They'd probably be watching Dragon Ball Z from the cradle, in Japanese. No need to dumb down, they get the picture fairly quick. I'm sick of these big companies and associations trying to tell us we have to over protect and over guard our children.
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