So much of the violence in the world seems to come from the idea of the pre-emptive strike. It’s about being ruled by fear. The fear that someone wants to harm you makes you want to harm them first. And then they feel threatened and aggressive. And sure enough it looks like they do want to harm you. Your initial fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

And so people die and everything goes to shit. Countries level other countries.

On a far smaller scale, children punch other children in playgrounds.

Part of this is massively reinforced by entertainment that existed long before television – stories of good guys versus bad guys. Absolutely naïve and yet still a staple of stories today. Makes for a very easy watch in movies or television. Were the cowboys the good guys and the Indians the bad guys? Every side ultimately sees themselves as the good guy, and so any aggression aimed at someone with opposing views is justified. We kill the bad guys and that makes us good. Hmmm…

But there is more to it when it comes to television.

In studies that began in the ’60s*, researchers gauged the perception of the world and how it relates to television viewing. What they found was a ‘mean world syndrome’ effect. Basically, those who watched much more television were found to be far more afraid of the world around them. To the point where many heavy viewers of television would seriously overestimate crime figures and the risk of them becoming a victim of violence or crime. Not really surprising with all the Criminal Minds, CSIs and so on, is it?

Television viewing can lead to the perception that we live in a more dangerous and mean world (hence ‘mean world syndrome’) in which people can not be trusted, we are in constant danger and we need to take steps to defend ourselves.

And so children punch other children in playgrounds or countries level other countries.

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This is one reason I adore preschool television over other areas of entertainment. So much preschool television  reinforces the idea that people can be good to each other, that people aren’t out to get you, that we can help and be helped and that the world can be a wonderful place to live.

I remember reading about a TV conference where someone said that we shouldn’t be sugaring up our children’s television because the world isn’t actually all that nice. Sure, that’s true. And it never will be unless we start believing that it can be and work towards that rather than reinforcing the bitchy, cruel world often depicted in shows for the older kids. Preschool television shows a caring, nurturing, helpful, inspiring, playful, gentle, fun, whimsical, creative and peaceful world. No mean world syndrome. A beautiful world. One I think we’re capable of. Eventually.

Isn’t that something to aim for?

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*(Gerbner, 1970; Gerbner, Gross, Morgan & Signorielli, 1994)

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Tags: animation, Children, education, Messages, research

On Tuesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their policy and made a statement which, once again, discouraged television for children under age 2. As someone who creates and delivers content for children, it’s always important for me to know where I stand when new research emerges or statements like this are made.

So what did I make of the AAP statement?

What I found was that impressions I got from how it was reported (and how it flew around Twitter) weren’t always the same as what I got from the words of the AAP themselves. For example, much of the reporting talked about ‘screens’ like all media and all content is equal. I’ve tackled this here before – all screen time is not equal. Playing an interactive Sesame Street app is not going to have the same effect as sitting them in front of The Exorcist, for example.

But, in this conference, the AAP aren’t lumping all screen time together.

I did find the text of the early press release a little more vague and guilty of lumping ‘screen time’ together, possibly the reason for the rather basic reporting on it. But the actual content of the conference?

It’s about television.

Their statement is mainly about television. They even go as far as to say that there may be some benefit to interactive media. Bear in mind that ‘may be’ is a long, long way from ‘is’ and much product is pushed as being educational – they might well be but are the results really there? In this statement, the AAP are refreshingly honest about what they don’t yet know.

On television, the focus of this statement, the AAP discourages TV before the age of 2. Discourages – they recognise the world we live in and how that’s not always easy (if you have older children, for example).They have found no benefit in children too young to understand what they are seeing, while finding benefit in other activities that simply don’t take place when they’re watching TV. This seems to be just common sense. If they sit watching a box of what is essentially (to them) flashing colours for an hour rather than figuring out how to dismantle a dog toy or how to get dad’s attention or how to force a large figure into a tiny car from a whole other playset, well, they’re missing out.

That’s not about guilt. I’m a parent. We’re all about the guilt and TV Guilt is something we parents do just fine on our own. Guilt isn’t their job – that’s what our mothers are for!

The AAP discourage background TV. TV is distracting and its content should be an active choice. Forget about under twos – we could all do with keeping this in mind!

They encourage talking about media use and limitations – again, making an active choice.

They value free play and talk time. Fantastic. We all should. Watching children discover cause and effect as they use objects, there can be no doubt as to the value of that. And, by the way, I include some media devices in there too – it’s amazing how quickly children can figure out how a phone works, or a computer. And of course talk time is important. Not always easy, but important. Otherwise, your daughter may get most of her language from TV like one little girl I know who greeted me the other day with, “Do you see the Daddy? When you see Daddy, shout ‘Daddy!’” Oh, there’s that TV Guilt kicking in…

Lastly, the AAP encourage more research into all of this and the long-term effects. As would I.

So, as someone who makes children’s television, where am I on the AAP statement? I’m all for it. Everything in it makes sense. Let’s embrace it, keep parents informed and encourage active choices in content for children.

And keep the research coming.

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Tags: Children, education, parenting, research

I’ll admit, as a parent, I had some reservations about Yo Gabba Gabba.

Having a very sensitive daughter, prone to nightmares, I’ve wondered about the designs of some of the main characters and the dreams they inspire. I’ve wondered if some of the familiar adult faces and bands aren’t just a little bit self-indulgent. I know my daughter didn’t get Biz’s Beat Of The Day whatsoever and, when I tried to get her to take part, it just freaked her out. And I wondered about the age-old pace/attention span issue that has been talked about since the dawn of children’s television (though only wondered, because research does not seem to back up that concern).

I enjoyed it but I wasn’t all that sure my little girl was getting as much from it as I was.

But Yo Gabba Gabba totally won me over.

The show is colourful, has some great songs, is very playful and who couldn’t love DJ Lance? But the show won me over on something far more important than that – the messages.

Yo Gabba Gabba covers messages to children that I simply haven’t seen anywhere else. Don’t just take stuff from your friends. Don’t throw stuff at your friends. Don’t bite your friends. Seriously, don’t bite your friends. Just don’t do it. This is something that some young children do and yet I can’t think of another show that just comes out and says don’t do it.

The messages in Yo Gabba Gabba are relevant and, importantly, different to the messages children are getting elsewhere. For such a seemingly wacky show, it tackles subjects far more grounded and real than many other shows. As a father of two, where an older child can terrorise a younger one (or vice versa), I appreciate those messages. The show can actually be a useful parenting tool – working with parents. Any reservations I once had have long since been put aside. And, now, their ‘Be Nice To Everyone’ song is one of my favourite songs from television.

I love the show. And, as my daughter got a little older, and was joined by her little sister, I found she began to get as much from it as I did.

So, Yo Gabba Gabba, I salute you!

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Tags: Children, education, Messages, parenting, recommendations, Yo Gabba Gabba

Almost forgot to post here today. My head has been elsewhere. You see, I had the girls all to myself this weekend. And either side of that, I have been completely immersed in COSMO.

One spills over to the other, of course, and one of the great things about working on COSMO, and where I can see the effect it could have first hand, is that my girls are learning about space and getting really enthusiastic about science. With COSMO, I have always hoped that children will ask questions well beyond what is actually featured in the show. So it’s the start of a journey. Well, the show still has a long way to go but, even just in bringing my work home, I can see that happening with my four-year-old, Daisy.

Today, she was very proud to tell my wife that the bigger the planet, the more gravity it has. Oh sure, it’s fine to throw around the words but what does she really know? So I asked her what gravity is. The explanation was all her own – if you have something and you don’t want it to fall, it will fall anyway and that’s because of gravity. She’s four and discussing gravity. That’s well outside what I planned to feature in the show, by the way. But she moved from space to planets, to floating to gravity.

Questions lead to more answers, which lead to more questions.

And giving children good answers seems to be, at least for me, one of the best things you can give a child. I find it one of the really fun, interesting things about being a parent. It’s also so much fun for children. They love to learn interesting things and they definitely love to show off. So I had a great, yet tiring (Alice up all night convinced butterflies were in her room – a whole other story), weekend. Daisy came out of it learning about space, and I came out of it feeling good that maybe a show like this could inspire other children in a positive way too.

Anyway, here are some drawings she wanted to share with you. They may not count given they’re from my daughter but, for me, this is the first COSMO fan art:

COSMO – Daisy felt she needed more colour.

COSMO’S DAD – I know everyone boasts about their children but I was well impressed with this one. When she asked what colour the main part around Dad’s eyes were, she didn’t accept ‘white’ as an appropriate answer.

SOL – Daisy also felt little Sol needed more colour. And apparently, much bigger hands.

COSMO’S MUM – Oh, I think we’ll be needing anger management classes at some point. This is actually the third attempt at Mum. The first two led to the revelation of a real perfectionist streak. She wasn’t happy with Mum #2 at all.

GIL – the computer or, as Daisy refers to him, ‘their television’.

And that’s the lot. The COSMO family, as drawn by little Daisy Tammemagi, age 4. Oh, she also wanted me to read you a story. It was ‘Goodnight Sleep Tight’ by Claire Freedman. It’s a good story so you should check it out but I think transcribing it here would be a blatant breach of copyright.

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Tags: Children, Cosmo, education, parenting

My latest article with Ireland’s parenting site for fathers, dad.ie, is up here. It’s about princesses, pink and role models for our little girls.

I created and wrote the first series of Fluffy Gardens before I became a parent. I was asked recently if there is anything I would have done differently had I already been a parent, having more first-hand experience with children.

The truth is, yes, I would have done some things differently.

Even though I aimed for a completely safe, warm, good show built on positive values, and I totally understood that children learn from television, seeing that direct effect every day over a long period of time does make a difference. It changes things when you can’t give the children back!

I’m not saying it’s essential. But, for me, it made a difference.

And one thing having my girls really brought home is how much children can model their behaviour, mannerisms, speech patterns and more on what they see on television. Some of their understanding of what they can and can’t do in life comes from entertainment. Sure, it comes from many other places too but that’s where it gets difficult. That’s where people think, well, television didn’t affect me. But is it more just that the influences are so mixed that it’s hard to pick out exactly what effect TV actually had?

Every character in a show, mine or anyone elses, can be a role model.

Now, I’m not saying every character should be a role model. That would likely make for some very dull television. But, still, it is important to understand that every character can be a role model, whether we like it or not. Some of Dora the Explorer’s research revealed that a sub-section of their male audience wanted to be Swiper the Fox when they grow up. You can be sure his creators didn’t intend that. But it happens.

Every character can be a role model.

And that’s something we have to accept and take on. We are responsible for what we create.

While I don’t think that should stifle our creativity, I think it’s always something worth keeping in mind. There’s some really good news here for show creators and writers – there are some voids in our modern role models. Some places where we could do with more positive role models for different sections of our community. Why is this good news? Because looking to fill those voids can lead to whole new fresh and interesting characters.

After all, if there’s no void there, someone else is already doing it.

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Tags: Children, education, Fluffy Gardens, Messages, parenting, role models, writing