A Closer Look at Children’s Television: Barney & Friends

Rating: TV-Y
Target Audience: Preschoolers
Episode Length: 30 minutes
Schedule: PBS weekdays at 1:30pm

Thinking back to my early childhood days I remember there was always one particular children’s show that was constantly criticized or made fun of. For some reason it always seemed to be extremely “uncool” to enjoy watching Barney, and that often made me sad because he was one of the few shows I did watch and even had multiple stuffed animals of those characters. In my opinion it would be much worse to be a fan of the Teletubbies…you could barely understand what they were saying and what was with the giant baby-face sun? Creepy!!

Anyway, back to Barney. What was it about him that made the show so unusual? Was it the fact that he was a giant purple dinosaur that liked to sing and dance? I don’t know, but despite all of the things people may have criticized it for Barney and Friends was a show that caught the heart of most children and taught them important lessons.

Like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, Barney actually has a lot of research behind its themes and tactics for educating its audience. According to the show’s website, Barney addresses the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of children with various activities including singing, dancing, and using their imagination to solve problems. The kids learn about teamwork by working together to solve problems or play games. There could even be valuable lessons learned about being good siblings through Baby Bop and BJ.

So whether or not you think Barney is “cool” you have to admit that he does do a good job of teaching children important lessons that they can use throughout their lives. For the past 10 years Barney has been coming to life to play and teach with children and if he’s lucky (which let’s face it, he probably will be) he’ll be able to continue on for years to come.

For more info on Barney & Friends visit: http://pbskids.org/barney/index.htm