Down with the kids

I once saw an interview with Cate Blanchett in which she talked about herself and husband Andrew Upton sitting in front of a Wiggles dvd , discussing the production merits in detail while realising that they should get out more! It was an - “Aw see, they are just like us!”, moment! I suspect she was just being folksy - with invitations to all the glamorous events in town and the cost of babysitting unlikely to be an issue in the monthly budget I doubt she sits at home as much as the rest of us!

But I digress, the point is that kids tv is ubiquitous but we all have our personal thresholds. In our house we love Playschool (hooray!), despise High 5 (banned!), tolerate and are driven crazy by the Wiggles (regret not banning, but now too late!). But all bets are off now I have seen an episode of Jungle Girl.

For those who don’t know this is Bindi Irwin’s contribution to kids tv. I doubt there is anyone who doesn’t know that her dad, Steve Irwin, is dead but after watching the show, I wasn’t so sure. Bindi continually refers to - my dad, and we then see him wresting crocs and every other wild animal imaginable throughout each episode. At no time is he referred to in the past tense and his action is seamlessly part of the plot. It is the creepiest thing I’ve seen for a while and very confusing to our 7 year old friend who said somewhat perplexed - ” I thought he died?” Very convenient for a parent who is trying to explain the permanence of death. The only thing I can conclude is that Terri Irwin is seriously in denial about the death of her husband - but do we all have to become part of the charade?

My irritation with the show increased as I watched the (sadly) dead dad do lots of dangerous things. Things that Little Bro was watching with a wide mouth and a glint in his eye! For example, picking up a venomous snake (we do get them around our area in Summer) and running from a wild dog that was trying to attack him. I turned off the tv and explained to Little Bro that we never approach snakes and if we are scared of a dog we stay very still and never run. But I suspect the damage was done…thanks Bindi!

The other problem is that the show focuses on endangered species, to the point of obsession. Every animal is endangered, the words killed or dying are in Bindi’s every sentence (ironically excepting those that start with - my dad). Big Sis was quite concerned and started asking why all the animals were dying and why people were killing them. I think its a really bad idea to flood kids with this stuff, they get overwhelmed and end up not caring. Can’t we focus on kids enjoying nature, rather than continually and pessimistically focusing on problems? An appropriate balance would be to just raise the issue of endangerment once an episode for the young viewers and make some practical suggestions about what they can do so they can feel powerful and optimistic.

I discussed all this with Big Sis, and she seemed to agree. When we finished she sat silent for a moment and then said - “But mummy, I love her hair!” So thanks again Jungle Girl, probably your biggest crime of all - it will be crimped piggy tails all the way to Kinder next term!