The Problem With Kids’ TV Shows Today
Despite how the title sounds, I am not going to use this time talking about whether or not screen time is harmful for your children.
I actually don’t really think it is.
We all grew up watching TV and we turned out fine. The problem isn’t with the screen. The problem is the access to the internet and the endless choice that stimulates and overloads kids’ brains.
All that information is difficult for adults to manage so we can’t expect children to do the same.
No, I don’t really worry too much about my boys watching too much TV. Sure, I plop them in front of the tube if I need to jump on a work call so I know they’ll be quiet for 30 minutes. We also load a couple movies onto a tablet for long car rides.
Do they get more screen time than I would like in an ideal world? Yes (especially during summer vacation). But this is the real world.
There are two kinds of people who say they don’t let their kids have screen time: Rich people (who hire nannies to do the parenting) and liars. And most people aren’t rich.
Saying you don’t let your kids have screen time has become a status symbol. It’s a way for obnoxious parents to brag about how wonderful they are. It’s also often untrue.
So, don’t worry if your kids watch TV. As long as they get some exercise and sunshine once in a while, they’ll be fine.
Anyway, now that that’s out of the way, I do see one particularly glaring issue with most children’s programs today.
My boys are seven and four. They do pretty much everything together, which includes watching TV. Rarely will one watch TV without the other. Because they always watch the same thing, we are careful to make sure it’s appropriate for our little guy. That usually doesn’t pose a problem our older son, though, since many modern kid’s shows appeal to this particular age range.
Most of the shows our boys watch deal with the usual issues like teamwork, kindness, inclusivity, and friendship. Typical kid’s show stuff.
But there is one thing that hardly any of these shows tackle…
Leadership.
Now, keep in mind that I haven’t seen EVERY SINGLE episode of the shows I reference in this article, so if you know of an episode that disproves what I am saying here then… I don’t know… congrats or something.
The shows I am referring to are shows like PJ Masks, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, Dino Ranch, HERO Elementary… basically, any show that has a “group of kids solve problems together” structure.
Anyway, almost every show has a storyline at some point of a character who rushes into something and doesn’t work with the team. Inevitably, the plan falls apart and the character in question gets chastised by the others for not working together. At the end of the show, said character has learned their lesson and has learned how to be a team player.
Awesome. That is definitely a worthwhile lesson to teach kids.
But what about leadership? Isn’t it also important to show kids what a strong leader looks like?
I’ve never seen a storyline where the group can’t figure out what to do and one of them steps up, takes charge (even when feeling unsure), and leads the team forward to either success or failure.
Nope. All the plots have kind of wishy-washy, “get-along” messaging.
Don’t we all hope our kids are going to be the leaders? Of course not EVERYONE can be a leader, because then there wouldn’t be anyone to lead! But I suspect most of you dads reading this hope your sons or daughters will be the ones that the other kids want to follow.
How do they do that, though? How do they get people on their side? How do they get people to follow them and do it excitedly? They don’t have any examples of how to do these things in the shows they watch.
The reason why I feel this is important is because, once I realized it, I started remembering times from my own childhood where I wished I was more of a leader or had stronger character. Can’t we all think of times we should have spoken up in a group, or stood up for someone, or shot down silly gossip, or had the strength to not just go along with the crowd?
I sure do. I think back on those moments a lot now that I have kids in elementary school. I hope that they will handle those kinds of situations differently than I did. I hope that since they have a positive and responsible father-figure in their lives (something I DIDN’T have) then they will be armed with the strength-of-character to excel, rather than shrink, in those situations.
Because, really, kids will get their life lessons (the ones that stick, anyway) from the loving people in their lives, not from TV shows.
But, the TV shows can certainly help, which is why I would love to see some examples of bold, caring, charismatic, risk-takers.
Even with all that said, I don’t dislike any of the shows I mentioned earlier. If my wife and I dislike any show my kids want to watch, we have final veto power, since we usually have to listen to it. That happens pretty infrequently.
Excluding shows that are beyond their development level, there are only a few shows my wife and I DO NOT permit our kids to watch. They are Grizzy & the Lemmings, Zig & Sharko, and Vlad and Niki.
The first one is a junky version of Road Runner, the second is bizarre and incredibly boring, but Vlad and Niki is the absolute worst. If you haven’t seen it, just imagine the most annoying toy commercial you’ve ever seen and then watch it for twenty minutes.
That show has actually provided fodder for conversations I’ve had with my boys about the addictive nature of content on the internet. So, I guess it isn’t ALL bad.
What are some of the GOOD kids’ shows, though? Yes, they do exist! If you’re a parent with school-age kids you’re probably familiar with all of these. If your kids are really little, or you aren’t a parent yet, keep these shows in mind as your kiddos get a little older, as they might like them.
Blaze and the Monster Machines
Both my sons went through a HEAVY “Blaze Phaze”, especially my older son. He has always loved cars and monster trucks so this show spoke to him.
This show is for a younger audience (like PreK and Kindergarten) but can still hold the attention of early elementary school kids in first or second grade.
As a parent, what I like about this show is the way it teaches concepts like friction, elasticity, trajectory, and other science-y things. Also, the songs in the show are very catchy which means you’ll be humming about photons and chain reactions for years to come! What’s good about that is that your kids will never forget the definitions of velocity or momentum, which will come in handy later in their school careers!
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum
Before my oldest son could reliably talk, he was attempting to tell us that Johann Sebastian Bach was a musician and that Marie Curie discovered radium.
Xavier Riddle is about three kids who go back in time and meet famous people when they’re young. This was one of the only shows that demonstrated strong leadership, specifically in the “Winston Churchill” and “George Washington” episodes.
Each episode features two important people in history, unless it’s a special episode (like “Fred Rogers” or “Harriet Tubman”) when the whole episode focuses on one person.
When I think back on it, some of the earliest conversations I had with my boys about things like discrimination were from watching this show (and episodes like “Jackie Robinson” and “Jesse Owens”).
Wild Kratts
I mentioned how my oldest son loves cars and trucks (and planes and tanks and helicopters and…). My youngest son loves animals. He has a whole toybox full of animal figurines. This love of animals led him to the show Wild Kratts which is another PBS offering (along with Xavier Riddle).
The show follows two zoologist brothers who defeat bad guys using animal powers. Very silly, indeed, but my boys have actually learned a ton about animals from this show. It has also gotten my older son more into animals, too.
This is the only show on this list that has actual bad guys that the protagonists are trying to thwart. The villains, per usual, are way more entertaining than the good guys, especially the Cajun chef who is constantly trying to cook and eat the endangered species.
Bluey
This show is pretty popular so you might already be familiar with it.
It’s about a family of dogs (a mom, a dad, and their two daughters, Bingo and Bluey) and the games they play.
This show could have EASILY been very annoying, but it isn’t at all. The characters are all pretty realistic, despite being anthropomorphic dogs, and the jokes are often laugh-out-loud funny.
What makes this show enjoyable for adults is how relatable the parents (Chilli and Bandit) are. They’re shown going to work, begrudgingly sitting through insipid kiddie movies, and sitting their kids in front of the TV so they can rest after a particularly late night.
The episodes are only about eight minutes long. This can be a blessing when you need to get your kids to the dinner table or into the car and can conveniently wait until the end of an episode. Also, that little theme song is definitely an ear worm and you’ll find yourself absent-mindedly whistling it in the grocery store.
I was not expecting how deep some of the episodes are, though.
“Wait a second… is this one about… infertility?”
Yup.
The only thing I don’t like about Bluey is the unrealistic expectation it sets for kids regarding how involved in their games their parents will be. While Bluey and Bingo play primarily with each other, many of their games are heavily dependent on the involvement of their parents.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not tackling my unsuspecting neighbor or licking the floor of the living room just because my kids’ game dictates it.
Kids nowadays are blessed with choice when it comes to TV shows. When we were young, we had a handful of shows for us. They were basically Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, and Looney Tunes. And we had to wait until a specific time of day to watch them. Now, kids have probably a thousand shows to choose from any time they want.
With all that variety, I am surprised that more shows don’t have episodes dedicated to leadership or how to take charge in difficult situations. Honestly, I feel that that’s a more difficult skill to learn than working together. Because “working together” if misunderstood can easily morph into “go along to get along” which is absolutely NOT what we want our kids doing. And it seems like the TV execs haven’t realized this yet.
