For the most part, “Bob the Builder” is about normal kids’ stuff: teamwork, conflict resolution, taking turns and the like. The show isn’t overtly political””Bob’s catchphrase, “Yes we can!” predates the Obama campaign. Instead, it peddles a slightly hectoring brand of environmentalism. Ever since Bob discovered his inner environmental conscience, he’s been teaching kids about believing in recycling and being kind to Mother Gaia. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” has become another one of the show’s catchphrases. That’s fine so far as it goes””aside from those evil Republicans, who doesn’t love the planet?
But it’s a little rich having Bob indoctrinate children about “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” while simultaneously prompting these children to beg their parents for plastic Bob the Builder trucks, and latex Bob the Builder balls, and plush Bob the Builder dolls. All of which are manufactured in far-away lands and shipped to our fair shores by the carbon-gobbling container-shipful. Bob the Builder is like one of those evangelists who lectures on the virtues of living green before hopping onto a private jet and flying back to his mansion in Nashville….
There’s nothing particularly pernicious about any of this. Bob and Thomas and “Sesame Street” have plenty of redeeming qualities. And in any case, if you don’t like a particular show you can always find one that better fits your tastes. Even so, it’s a shame that there isn’t more of a place for children’s entertainment that exists solely in its own universe, apart from adult debates and sociopolitical fashions.
It seems to me that TV reduces a child’s ability to stay on task and gain attention span. I know that it is a single case but our son was born in 1977 and my wife and I decided to avoid all children’s programming. He was very early able to sit through a worship service and was listening to stories like “Little house in the Big Woods”, etc..
He did the same thing with his children and seeing the same result.
Don
“TV reduces a child’s ability to stay on task and gain attention span”
I wish I knew the answer! My youth was in the late 50s and early 60s. My peers and I watched quite a lot of television (including commercials) — I think our Cold War era parents thought of it as part of the promise of progress rather than as dangerous. Now I have a 3 year old and an 8 year old, and my peers and I limit our kids’ TV time pretty strictly (and mine watch mostly non-commercial shows, since we don’t get cable and PBSkids is often the only game in town). But it’s a commonplace observation that kids in the 60s were better able to sit down and keep still during church than kids today — and it’s true in my experience. Maybe it’s not about tv at all, but because all elements of society conspired to expect kids to sit down and be still back then.
Anyhow, my eldest daughter loves tv but also loves to read — so at least in my anecdotal data they’re not mutually exclusive.
“Even so, it’s a shame that there isn’t more of a place for children’s entertainment that exists solely in its own universe, apart from adult debates and sociopolitical fashions.”
But that is what socialists are about! Get them young, before they have the ability to think critically, and program them with the “we know what’s best for you” socialist dogma/pseudo-religion and then wait as the “revolution” unfolds. This method follows them for their entire education…even through (or perhaps culminating with) the institutions of “higher” learning (those indoctrination camps that forbid opposing viewpoints from the PC dogma from ever being heard).
Anyone else remember the old chestnut, [i]Captain Planet[/i]? How about the [i]Magic Schoolbus[/i]? Even the comic books have gotten into the act. Marvel Comics regularly has LGBT depictions now. (Caution to parents- do you know what your children are reading?) Anyone remember the old comic strip [i]Archie[/i]? Well, the formerly innocent [i]Archie[/i] Comic now has an openly gay character, Kevin Keller, featured in the an issue titled “Isn’t It [b]Bro[/b]mantic?” We are talking about the comic strip that has Jughead!
Gaia worship, LGBTism, socialism…it’s all there, deliberately, in the kids programming, schoolbooks ([i]Heather Has Two Mommies, Daddy’s Roommate[/i]), comic books, movies, etc.
I am the father of 3. We homeschool. We stopped our satellite TV subscription 2 years ago. We screen every comic book and storybook, music CD, video game, etc. Girls Scouts are completely out. Boy Scouts are a maybe. We are VERY careful to fight this poisoning of our children’s minds. Please Lord, help us!
Last night, my kids participated in the Pinewood Grand Prix at a local Church as part of the AWANA program. We play boardgames together. We read together and watch movies TOGETHER. They play with other children, under SUPERVISION. They have never been left with strangers (not even Daycare). We get only ONE (1) chance with our children to raise them. The enemy of all our souls is a roaring lion that rages around seeking those he can devour.
Anyone that has ever observed nature knows that predators go after the weak, the sickly, and the YOUNG. Those are their PRIMARY TARGETS. People, there are predators out there and they are after your children. Protect them. It’s your duty. Anyone that has accepted the charge at a baby dedication also has this duty, not just the parents.
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6
It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Luke 17:2
And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42
Note to parents: Turn off the television… just sayin’.
I’m glad I don’t have any little ones at this time in society but, when I did, I didn’t see my job as shielding my child from the world. That is impossible, unless you expect that you can always keep him tightly under your wing, having no or little contact with people who believe and live differently and with ideas contrary to his own.
By all means, set a firm foundation but give him the tools to navigate the world. That means permitting exposure to different views and experiences and discussing the issues, not attempting to shield him from it. I see nothing to be gained from forbidding television, thus, not teaching children how to evaluate and discern worthwhile information and messages from sketchy material and wastes of time. If you don’t equip children to navigate this world, then you are putting millstones around their necks, IMO.
There are many valuable programs and channels on television, nowadays. My new favorite is the Documentary Channel. I watch NatGeo, History, History International, Discovery, etc. and my son grew up watching and discussing many of these sorts of programs with me. I taught him to ask questions, to discern, to not accept whatever is presented to you, and we often did Internet searches for more info on topics at academic sites. This training has served him well both academically and personally.
It isn’t about shielding them from the world. It is about preparing them…at age appropriate levels. I don’t want my 7 year old boy reading and viewing a comic book depiction of two men kissing! I don’t want the F-Bomb dropped in my living room with my 10 year old daughter hearing it. I don’t want to have LGBT discussions with my children until they are at an age that I deem appropriate. I don’t want my children programmed with gaia worship in elementary school.
When we discuss environmentalism, I tell them about conservation from a hunter’s and outdoorsman’s perspective. I balance the discussion by telling them about the Cuyahoga River that caught fire in Cleveland, Ohio and Love Canal. Conservation and protecting the environment isn’t the exclusive domain of the wacky Left. The problem with Greenies is their anthropomorphizing the earth and animals, holding human life at a lower premium than animals, and restricting careful utilization of resources. And let’s not even talk about the criminals of ELF, ALF, PETA, and those that support these leftist terrorist organizations (like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace-the latter may actually have crossed the line into terrorism as well).
Some Green extremists would do away with all cars…now. They would end all oil burning…now. They wouldn’t care who froze or who starved or whose life support system stopped working. There are also the hypermilers out on the highways causing road rage and creating a hazard by driving below the legal speed minimums!
Most of all, I am tired of the hypocritical lecturing by the Al Gores about reducing our “carbon footprint” while they live lavish and energy wasteful lives. This sort of “moralizing” by the liberal left elitists is absolutely infuriating!
/rant
I’m wondering who are these evangelists who talk eco-green and live carbon-black and live in Nashville? They must not get much press here in Nashville, TN! Unless he means some other Nashville… 😉
he makes some very good points however he negates it by lecturing about environmental responsibility as if it were a bad thing. latex is a natural substance, plastic toys can be donated once a child grows tired of it or could possibly even be recycled. slamming al gore makes him appear to be more than a bit biased.
children should be learning it because they are going to be the ones dealing with the consequences of our choosing convenience and cheap pricing over the health of the planet.
S&T: did you see where [url=http://www.archiecomics.com/blog/news/2010/04/archie-comics-introduces-first-openly-gay-character.html]Archie Comics[/url] just introduced a ‘gay’ character?
Yes (lol) I did.
Post#3, 3rd paragraph…
[blockquote]Anyone remember the old comic strip Archie? Well, the formerly innocent Archie Comic now has an openly gay character, Kevin Keller, featured in the an issue titled “Isn’t It Bromantic?†We are talking about the comic strip that has Jughead![/blockquote]
It makes the heart sick.