Barney and Violence

"Children are greeted with violence everywhere -- at the mall, on the highways, at home and at school. And we almost don't notice, until a classroom is blown up by a shooter.
When you stop and listen, however, violence is the background noise to children's everyday conversations and pastimes."
From Violent images pervade children's lives
by Yamil Berard and Karen Brooks

" 'If those kids cared about their own and other people's feelings, they couldn't possibly have done what they did...They certainly couldn't have felt the pain of their victims and do what they did'...Society as a whole needs to pay attention to these children and help them express their feelings openly.'"
From Kids who kill often lack empathy, experts say
by Jan Jarvis

"There's ample evidence that plenty of parents don't bother with the system, from the parents who bring preschoolers to movies as unnerving and/or violent as The Blair Witch Project, The Haunting, South Park, Summer of Sam, Scream or Alien Resurrection -- all films where colleagues or I have spotted very young children -- to the middle-school classes I spoke to in the spring, where only one student out of about 100 lamented that his parents don't let him see R-rated films."
From Who's to blame for the movie-ratings mess? We all are
By Robert Philpot

". . .Mass murders by the young, once phenomenally rare, are suddenly on the increase. Can it be coincidence that this increase is happening at the same time that Hollywood has begun to market the notion that mass murder is fun?. . . .Many killers seek feelings of power over their victims, criminology finds; by reveling in the pleas of victims, slasher movies promote this base emotion. . . .Time-Warner ran television ads promoting ['Natural Born Killers'] as "delirious, daredevil fun.". . . .The debate misses vital points: the distinction between what adults should be allowed to see (anything) and what the developing minds of children and adolescents should see. . . .research...clearly shows that the viewing of violence can cause aggression and crime...Studies...have shown that the postwar murder rise in the United States began roughly a decade after TV viewing became common. . . those who watched the most TV and movies in childhood were much more likely to have been arrested for, or convicted of, violent felonies. . . ."Kids learn by observation...If what they observe is violent, that's what they learn." . . . .Defenders of bloodshed...argue that depictions of killing don't incite real violence because no one is really affected by what they see or read...this is an argument against free expression. The whole reason to have a First Amendment is that people are influenced by what they see and hear: Words and images do change minds, so there must be free competition among them. If what we say, write, or show has no consequences, why bother to have free speech?. . . .Except for the unbalanced, exposure to violence in video "is not so important for adults; adults can watch anything they want"...Younger minds are a different story. Children who don't yet understand the difference between illusion and reality may be highly affected by video violence. Between the ages of 2 and 8, hours of viewing violent TV programs and movies correlates closely to felonies later in life; the child comes to see hitting, stabbing and shooting as normative acts. The link between watching violence and engaging in violence continues up to about the age of 19. . . .Hollywood might as well be the NRA's marketing arm. An ever-increasing share of film and television depicts the firearm as something the virile must have and use...Check the theater section of any newspaper, and you will find an ever-higher percentage of movie ads in which the stars are prominently holding guns...Hollywood endlessly congratulates itself for reducing the depiction of cigarettes in movies and movie ads. Cigarettes had to go, the film industry admitted, because glamorizing them gives the wrong idea to kids. But the glamorization of firearms, which is far more dangerous, continues. . . ."
From Cruel intentions?
By Gregg Easterbrook

3. The only behaviors and/or words my children learn from it are appropriate words and good behaviors that will help them help themselves and others in this life.

5. Sweetness, happiness and love shouldn't bother one and after the news it seems greatly to be desired.

When I've just learned of yet another child tortured to death by a family member, having my child say to me with shining eyes "Barney loves me; Stella loves me. I love Baby Bop; I love you" seemeth good unto me. There are children out there who haven't experienced love and who will grow into adults incapable of giving love. Having dealt with court documents and Child Protective Services on a professional level, I'm painfully aware Barney may have been the only 'person' to have ever told a child "I love you."

7. When (as in May 1998) I've switched from a news story on an 11-year-old who raped a 3-year-old, I have a hard time empathizing with any complaint about Barney or the kids who love him.

Especially the complaint "[Barney]'s sickly sweet...All the kids he plays with are a) so sickly sweet it's unbelievable and b) have smiles that are so fake I could gag. Probably, replacing all the kids -- and whoever tells them how to act -- with kids that acted more naturally would make it so I could endure Barney being sickly sweet."

8. It reminds my children to be sweet and polite. And boy, do developing minds need the reminding!

A sicky sweet kid is only a problem in Dreamonland. In Realitybitesville it would be a devoutly to be wished for miracle. Young kids with short attention spans and total lack of tact who model themselves after polite, sicky sweet pretend kids are tolerable. And maybe they'll stay out of jail when they're big kids. Young kids with short attention spans and total lack of tact who model themselves after fresh, foul-tongued, smarter-than-adults pretend kids are intolerable.

And don't fool yourself, children create their M.O. by modelling observed behaviors. It's just up to the parent which behaviors their child will observe.

9. TV generation kids have grown up thinking that life is nothing more than a huge game where everyone ALWAYS resolves problems with sex, violence, or a wisecrack; problems magically disappear when one can humiliate/seduce/destroy the enemy; and any major problem will be solved within 30-120 minutes. Look where that's gotten us.

Regarding the complaint "It's the rabid [Barney] following among small children which bugs me. I worry that an entire generation of kids will grow up thinking that life is nothing more than a huge game where everyone ALWAYS resolves problems, skinned knees magically disappear when sung to, and any major problem will be solved within 10 minutes." [I witness actors working out solutions, sometimes successfully sometimes not, within the confines of 20 minutes or less, but skinned knees and other problems don't disappear when sung to].
If my kids are rabid followers so be it! Bring it on! When the show is over, my rabid kids sing the "I love you" song and kiss each other. When someone forgets to say "please" or "thank you" my rabid kids sing "Remember 'please' and 'thank you' they are the magic words." Whenever I drive up to a street corner my rabid kids sing "When we walk across the street, we always stop, look and listen, when we walk across the street." I don't believe my rabid kids are brainwashed to think 'life is nothing more than a huge game where everyone ALWAYS resolves problems...and any major problem will be solved' and if they are they'll wake up to reality soon enough, won't they? I do believe my rabid kids learn problem-solving techniques from Barney. They certainly learn their ABCs, numbers, and safety lessons. I wish more kids were rabid about Barney.

10. If one can accustom oneself to the stomach-churning violence and cruelty jumping out at one from reality and the media reflecting and glamourizing it, one can accustom oneself to the sicky sweet, Golden Rulish, kindness and love bouncing out at one's children from "Barney and Friends."

Now that the Soapbox List is finished, I have a dirty confession to make...I worked hard to acclimatize myself to Barney's unfailing perkiness; I, too, often find the child actors insincere; and...
I CAN'T STAND BJ! Barf barf Barf. There I said it! I CAN'T STAND BJ!!! It's our dirty secret. Puhleeze don't tell my kids. They haven't a clue.

Besides, if you're griping these days about Barney, you're out of the loop big time. I have six words for you:
Teletubbies: Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-laa, and Po.

But few thoughts on Tinky-Winky and Jerry Falwell...
Two songs and the furor over them come to mind in this instance..."Puff the Magic Dragon" (it makes no sense as an anthem for marijuana, it is touching and poignant as a story of growing up which the author swears up and down it IS) and "Louie, Louie". . .puhleeze! It's about a guy who's gotta go see a girl who's waiting for him, NOT drugs, orgies, or communism!
The Tinky-Winky/Jerry Falwell brouhaha is just as intelligent, and is just as important.
What WOULD Jesus Do?! He'd be writing homophobes's sins in the dirt (John 8:7) and telling them to cast the first stone if they dared.

Does Barney give you a Sugar Headache? Welcome to the club. But...
We have endless choices of what we can watch. But what we watch does have an effect on us in one way or another.
With children the lines between fantasy and reality are especially blurred as they watch TV or videos.
Children act out what they see, children repeat what they hear. As parents we often choose with our remote control what behaviors our children will copy and what they will add to their vocabulary.
So you're a parent who can't quite stand how syrupy and outrageously optimistic Barney is. It makes you ill. Welcome to the club. But take a look at the alternative children's programming and ask yourself if that's what you want your kids to emulate.
Too touchy-feely? Children need touchy-feely; increasingly they're not getting it; and it's showing up in crime rates and dead kids at school.
Is Barney still too sugary for you? Well, be quiet and grab some extra insulin! Give Barney a break! He teaches Empathy, Respect, Caring, Fairness, Trustworthiness, Good Manners, Responsibility, and Citizenship.
Don't you wish Timothy McVeigh had been a Barney fan? Don't you wish the students who have gone on shooting rampages at schools across the nation had been Barney fans?
Barney teaches empathy, the Golden Rule, that you are special, that you are somebody, that he accepts you as his friend for who you are, and that he loves you. "Yuck!" you say?:
"Michael Carneal, who is accused of opening fire on Kentucky schoolmates during a prayer group, was described as being alienated and unhappy...Luke Woodham, who is accused of shooting nine students in Pearl, was described as a loner and social outcast who wrote in a five-page manifesto that he was not insane but angry. In Jonesboro [four students and a teacher dead], Mitchell Johnson, 13, is described as a troubled boy who had recently begun bragging about involvement with a gang. The other boy, 11-year-old Andrew Golden, was described by one person as 'evil-acting.' The desire to be accepted by others can motivate some children to do whatever it takes, experts said. 'This could have been a way to get even, a way to show others that "I am somebody, I exist," ' said Dr. Harvey Micklin, chairman of psychiatry at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Children, unable to comprehend why everyone is so mean to them, can end up feeling powerless until one day they lash out." -- excerpts from "Kids who kill often lack empathy, experts say"
Still can't stand Barney's opening lyrics, "Barney shows us lots of things like how to play pretend, ABCs and 123s and how to be a friend"?:
"You listen to rap from the '80s and early '90s, and it wasn't really that violent," says Jesse, a student at Trinity High School in Euless. "Now, violence sells." Lyrics are more realistic than 10 years ago, says his friend Kojo, adding, "They almost tell you how to kill someone."..."I love to kill," [Sarah] says, a smirk on her face. "My favorite movie is Natural Born Killers."...a torrent of 14- year-olds who will be freshmen at Marcus High School in the fall spills in, enjoying the first day of summer vacation. "I love violence," says 14-year- old Bartholomew, a freckled redhead who loves the shock value of the expression. Flippantly, he adds, "I want to be a murderer when I grow up." -- excerpts from "Violent images pervade children's lives"
Still can't stand Barney and/or his closing song?
That's sad, all things considered.
Wouldn't you, your kids, your city, your nation, your planet would be a lot better off if we heard and sang more often:

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...
I want TV stations to stop accepting movie commercials using images of guns and violence; I want networks to abolish broadcast movie promos using images of guns and violence; I want publishers to stop accepting movie display ads using images of guns; I want studios to stop pushing movies using marketing/merchandising with images of guns and violence. Take a look at any form of marketing for movies and you'll find images that glamourize guns and violence even if the movie's context does not. Stricter rating policies, and box-office carding are good moves, but it does not matter if impressionable kids aren't allowed to view the movie. If they've seen marketing glamourizing its violent aspects, they've already been affected.

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