I’ve watched more than enough cocomelon from my nieces over the years. Unless covering a well known song, their lyrics are pretty bad and clumsy even by children song standards. I vaguely remember...
I’ve watched more than enough cocomelon from my nieces over the years. Unless covering a well known song, their lyrics are pretty bad and clumsy even by children song standards. I vaguely remember questioning the actual message being conveyed on a number of occasions. They reuse melodies so frequently that, combined with shoehorning those lyrics in that don’t fit and the lazy animation, it’s clearly just a content mill for cash at this point. It’s not something focused on meaningfully educating children in an entertaining way. The kids are somehow glued to it, “zombies” like the article mentions, which means you as a parent can’t even turn it into a more active listening/engaging experience - it’s like talking to a wall.
Once I had kids of my own, I knew I wasn’t going to get them hooked on it. They’re still young, so we’re generally avoiding watching screens. Instead we have hand-picked a diverse Spotify playlist and try to engage them as much as we can while listening (singing, dancing, etc). Seems to be working well so far.
Having been down this rabbithole, here are some better options for parents: Super Simple Songs is better in this same vein of song braincandy. Easier to be interactive. Numberblocks Colourblocks...
Having been down this rabbithole, here are some better options for parents:
Super Simple Songs is better in this same vein of song braincandy. Easier to be interactive.
Numberblocks
Colourblocks
PBS shows are fantastic options, and free (in USA). Daniel Tiger in particular is great for younger kids. Odd Squad is just some awesome edutainment out of Canada.
That's cute. I try to play my own music around the house and sing or choreograph it to my kid when I can, even though I'm sure I'm just staving off the inevitable Raffi onslaught. I and so many...
They’re still young, so we’re generally avoiding watching screens. Instead we have hand-picked a diverse Spotify playlist and try to engage them as much as we can while listening (singing, dancing, etc). Seems to be working well so far.
That's cute. I try to play my own music around the house and sing or choreograph it to my kid when I can, even though I'm sure I'm just staving off the inevitable Raffi onslaught. I and so many to-be parents I talk to insist on, like. "we're ONLY playing the GOOD music around them!" But then a random toy or doll or mobile or whatever starts playing the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and you get why this whole canon of repetitive, simple music exists... Maybe I'll find something he likes enough to wrench control of the aux jack away from the 2032 contemporary equivalent of six hour car rides full of eight y/o me insisting there be Backstreet Boys.
We made it 14 months of no screen time here, aaaand then my son busted his lip and bled profusely for the first time. We needed to make sure the wound was OK, so we cracked once and gave him Ms Rachel for the first time... Went from screaming to 25 minutes of quiet! Absolutely eerie. An extended family member watches a lot of the article's mentioned YouTube dregs, and some of the techniques are the same there - especially the choreography of someone doing some slightly off-kilter dance and then like three or four other people repeating the same thing. I get her stuff is at least coming from an educational background, but it's crazy how utterly trained it is at capturing attention. Also mine. I may be three years old. Fuckin hypnotic kid-crack shit.
There is hope. My 7 year old's favorite album is Daft Punk's Discovery and my 3 year old's is Daft Punk's Human After All. The 3 year old also loves Ozzy's Crazy Train and knows most of the words....
There is hope. My 7 year old's favorite album is Daft Punk's Discovery and my 3 year old's is Daft Punk's Human After All. The 3 year old also loves Ozzy's Crazy Train and knows most of the words.
It's becoming a problem that the elder is not into the same music as their peers, but we say 'Trust us, you'll thank us later'
"you don't need Kidz Bop of current pop songs. You need Republica and Rush."
Makes me wonder if anyone will notice any difference when they start using AI. I couldn't help but notice that their statement on the subject was not a no.
lyrics are pretty bad and clumsy
Makes me wonder if anyone will notice any difference when they start using AI. I couldn't help but notice that their statement on the subject was not a no.
There was a thread a while back relating to AI and children’s books. There was worry that the market would shift to churning out soulless AI books and illustrations. While there’s currently plenty...
There was a thread a while back relating to AI and children’s books. There was worry that the market would shift to churning out soulless AI books and illustrations.
While there’s currently plenty of wheat to separate from the chaff, the market is already flooded with absolute garbage. If people primarily looking to make a buck off parents and kids switched to AI generation instead of whatever they’re doing now, it might actually be a net improvement.
I always wonder if this kind of show is created as a kind of revenge for parents who have children that are now having their own children. They had to watch their kid's annoying shows, now those...
I always wonder if this kind of show is created as a kind of revenge for parents who have children that are now having their own children. They had to watch their kid's annoying shows, now those adult kids must also suffer the hazing!
We had PeeWee Herman, then Barney, then Teletubbies, then I lost track because I wasn't around kids that age anymore. At each step, these shows were incredibly annoying to adults while children loved them. I first heard concerns about hypnotic, non educational content in reference to Teletubbies. The kids who were entranced by those shows are now of parenting (or grandparenting) age.
Then there were shows like Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Countdown, and Mr. Rogers, which were intentionally set up to be educational and at least didn't drive you crazy.
As to the concern about this stuff being available 24/7, this is not at all new. I had a neighbor with a VCR in 1983. She could watch Strawberry Shortcake whenever she wanted! One of my cousins watched The Land Before Time so many times it stopped working. What's new-ish is being able to watch the videos on a phone or tablet no matter where you are.
I watched the short referenced in the story. It's certainly annoying, but I can absolutely picture someone convincing their toddler to take a bath by singing the song. It's no different than one of my friends using the Clean up Song <repetition warning> to convince her child to pick up his toys. Maybe it's annoying and not educational, that doesn't mean it's useless.
"Who sleeps all night in a cake made of strawberries? Wakes up bright in a cake made of strawberries? Living right in a cake made of strawberries? Strawberry Shortcake, wouldn't ya know?" Things...
She could watch Strawberry Shortcake whenever she wanted!
"Who sleeps all night in a cake made of strawberries? Wakes up bright in a cake made of strawberries? Living right in a cake made of strawberries? Strawberry Shortcake, wouldn't ya know?"
Things burned into my brain
I think kid shows can definitely be done well, I'm also not sure Cocomelon is particularly bad, especially since there are a ton of knockoffs which I suspect are worse. My nephews love Bluey and PJ Heroes in particular and my siblings don't seem to hate those. I think it's worth finding things that the adults find valuable. Nothing stopping people from putting on Mr Rogers or vintage Sesame Street or anything.
I’ve watched more than enough cocomelon from my nieces over the years. Unless covering a well known song, their lyrics are pretty bad and clumsy even by children song standards. I vaguely remember questioning the actual message being conveyed on a number of occasions. They reuse melodies so frequently that, combined with shoehorning those lyrics in that don’t fit and the lazy animation, it’s clearly just a content mill for cash at this point. It’s not something focused on meaningfully educating children in an entertaining way. The kids are somehow glued to it, “zombies” like the article mentions, which means you as a parent can’t even turn it into a more active listening/engaging experience - it’s like talking to a wall.
Once I had kids of my own, I knew I wasn’t going to get them hooked on it. They’re still young, so we’re generally avoiding watching screens. Instead we have hand-picked a diverse Spotify playlist and try to engage them as much as we can while listening (singing, dancing, etc). Seems to be working well so far.
Having been down this rabbithole, here are some better options for parents:
Elinor Wonders Why is also pretty great for young kids, exploring why/how animals and other things in nature have certain traits.
That's cute. I try to play my own music around the house and sing or choreograph it to my kid when I can, even though I'm sure I'm just staving off the inevitable Raffi onslaught. I and so many to-be parents I talk to insist on, like. "we're ONLY playing the GOOD music around them!" But then a random toy or doll or mobile or whatever starts playing the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and you get why this whole canon of repetitive, simple music exists... Maybe I'll find something he likes enough to wrench control of the aux jack away from the 2032 contemporary equivalent of six hour car rides full of eight y/o me insisting there be Backstreet Boys.
We made it 14 months of no screen time here, aaaand then my son busted his lip and bled profusely for the first time. We needed to make sure the wound was OK, so we cracked once and gave him Ms Rachel for the first time... Went from screaming to 25 minutes of quiet! Absolutely eerie. An extended family member watches a lot of the article's mentioned YouTube dregs, and some of the techniques are the same there - especially the choreography of someone doing some slightly off-kilter dance and then like three or four other people repeating the same thing. I get her stuff is at least coming from an educational background, but it's crazy how utterly trained it is at capturing attention. Also mine. I may be three years old. Fuckin hypnotic kid-crack shit.
There is hope. My 7 year old's favorite album is Daft Punk's Discovery and my 3 year old's is Daft Punk's Human After All. The 3 year old also loves Ozzy's Crazy Train and knows most of the words.
It's becoming a problem that the elder is not into the same music as their peers, but we say 'Trust us, you'll thank us later'
"you don't need Kidz Bop of current pop songs. You need Republica and Rush."
Makes me wonder if anyone will notice any difference when they start using AI. I couldn't help but notice that their statement on the subject was not a no.
There was a thread a while back relating to AI and children’s books. There was worry that the market would shift to churning out soulless AI books and illustrations.
While there’s currently plenty of wheat to separate from the chaff, the market is already flooded with absolute garbage. If people primarily looking to make a buck off parents and kids switched to AI generation instead of whatever they’re doing now, it might actually be a net improvement.
I always wonder if this kind of show is created as a kind of revenge for parents who have children that are now having their own children. They had to watch their kid's annoying shows, now those adult kids must also suffer the hazing!
We had PeeWee Herman, then Barney, then Teletubbies, then I lost track because I wasn't around kids that age anymore. At each step, these shows were incredibly annoying to adults while children loved them. I first heard concerns about hypnotic, non educational content in reference to Teletubbies. The kids who were entranced by those shows are now of parenting (or grandparenting) age.
Then there were shows like Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Countdown, and Mr. Rogers, which were intentionally set up to be educational and at least didn't drive you crazy.
As to the concern about this stuff being available 24/7, this is not at all new. I had a neighbor with a VCR in 1983. She could watch Strawberry Shortcake whenever she wanted! One of my cousins watched The Land Before Time so many times it stopped working. What's new-ish is being able to watch the videos on a phone or tablet no matter where you are.
I watched the short referenced in the story. It's certainly annoying, but I can absolutely picture someone convincing their toddler to take a bath by singing the song. It's no different than one of my friends using the Clean up Song <repetition warning> to convince her child to pick up his toys. Maybe it's annoying and not educational, that doesn't mean it's useless.
"Who sleeps all night in a cake made of strawberries? Wakes up bright in a cake made of strawberries? Living right in a cake made of strawberries? Strawberry Shortcake, wouldn't ya know?"
Things burned into my brain
I think kid shows can definitely be done well, I'm also not sure Cocomelon is particularly bad, especially since there are a ton of knockoffs which I suspect are worse. My nephews love Bluey and PJ Heroes in particular and my siblings don't seem to hate those. I think it's worth finding things that the adults find valuable. Nothing stopping people from putting on Mr Rogers or vintage Sesame Street or anything.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/vElvl