Growing up would not have been the same without the shows we watched as kids. As for myself, I was a 90's baby so I am in that frame of reference when it comes to "old" TV. To be fair, I did watch my fair share of shows by Hanna Barbara, Warner Bros, MGM, and many others from my parent's generation. Together, they all affected me in a positive way. Sure, nowadays I am aware of the innuendos and bad humor blatantly everywhere on the TV; in both old and new programming. Today I am going to look past the negative aspects of our children's TV shows and focus on a handful of values that they imparted to young viewers. Though, believe me, the older I get, the more convinced I become that some of the other wacky anthropomorphic shows were probably experiments run by some government science project. Anyway, today, let us focus on just the good. Nothing bad. No conspiracies here... Those will be for another week.
The 11 lessons and truths I learned from childhood TV programming are as follows.
1. They showed us that everyone is capable of unconditional love.
2. Everyone in the living room got involved with the fun.
3. It was okay to be silly and act goofy.
4. Spontaneous singing is always called for!
5. Being an individual and loving yourself is the most important lesson.
6. The second most important lesson: we must care for each other, no matter our differences.
7. It is normal to be jealous or angry over something, and we were shown how to respond to those feelings in a positive manner.
8. The importance of family and friends.
9. It is perfectly okay to cry and be sad.
10. One should go out and explore because we all seek knowledge.
11. That we need to take care of our planet because this is our home.
