What Mr. Rogers taught me about screen time
Issue #17
As a child that grew up in the 80s, I always felt a special connection to Mister Rogers—something I'm reflecting on this as we mark the anniversary of his passing. I was very young when my mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), and within two years, she was confined to a wheelchair. I don’t think this was the only contributing factor, but our household was characterized by anger, resentment and unfortunately, abuse. I know my parents loved me (in the way every parent loves their children), but I never remember being told they did.
Television gave me an escape from the reality of my family situation. I remember watching Mister Rogers’ Neigborhood on PBS. Even though I was young, I remember recognizing that his show didn’t look as great and certainly wasn’t as exciting as the cartoons that competed for my attention. But, Mister Rogers connected with me on a deeper level, teaching me about caring, compassion and love. I felt that he truly cared about me. I learned later in life that many other kids felt the same. I also learned that the only reason he appeared on my television screen was because he recognized the potential of this new technology—and thought it was being wasted on mindless shows devoid of substance. When TV first went mainstream, he saw people throwing pies in each other’s faces and thought:
"this could be a wonderful tool. Why is it being used this way?"
So, he resolved to dedicate his life to spurring gentleness, imagination and contemplation — and his instrument was television. Rather than writing it off as a negative influence, Mister Rogers used it for good. He slowed the pace. He had constructive conversations about feelings. He told kids they were special. And he established himself as an unlikely hero for generations of youth across North America—myself included.
And it strikes me that there are strong parallels to new technologies today. Mister Rogers saw the untapped possibility in a new medium. He recognized that television had much more to offer than frenetic cartoons and slapstick comedy. But instead of fearing or rejecting television, he chose to embrace it. I’m glad he did.
As we grapple today with the concept of "screen time," the similarities are too strong to ignore. Mister Rogers inspires me, and I think that, just like television 70 years ago, there's an upside to technology today that can't be overlooked. I choose to be optimistic—and I believe that we can only unlock technology's potential by embracing it. And that's what we've chosen to do in my family. We'll probably enjoy some screen time tonight, actually—maybe even a vintage episode of Mister Rogers.
A deeper dive
Here are a few helpful resources in case you want to really dig into today's topic:
Mister Rogers was a passionate advocate for high-quality children’s programming. He even appeared before the Senate to argue against proposed cuts to public broadcasting. It’s worth watching his whole speech (it’s moving and it’s less than seven minutes), but here is my favorite highlight. Mister Rogers expresses his concern over the state of kids’ programming and explains how his show is different: “We deal with such things as the inner drama of childhood. We don’t have to bop somebody over the head to make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut. Or the feelings about brothers and sisters and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we speak to it constructively.” He believed his work was important — and the Senate agreed. He secured $20 million in funding in six minutes.
In Morgan Neville’s documentary about Mister Rogers, the show's producer Margy Whitmer says, "We had a director that once said to me, ‘If you take all the elements that make good television and do the exact opposite, you’d have Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.’ Yet it worked.” The slow, deliberate pace, low production quality, and direct-to-the-viewer dialogue weren't jazzy or attention grabbing, but the show's success proved that there was more than one way to harness the power of television. When it comes to technology today, this is a lesson I often think about.
TL;DR
Too long; didn't read. It shouldn't be a full-time job to keep up on industry news, so here is a mercifully quick summary of some other notable developments:
I believe that more tech companies need to build products that are designed to serve the unique needs of kids, so I was excited to see that Microsoft is testing a kid's mode in their Edge browser. It's designed to help kids navigate the web, and allows parents to curate a list of safe websites. I'll be curious to see what other features the company adds to their kid-friendly browser mode—not just to keep children safe, but also to help them learn and explore with confidence.
The best "parental control" out there is you, having ongoing conversations with your kids about how they use technology. But, there is still certainly a time and place for traditional parental controls, and this article here gives a great rundown of how to set them up in 2021. The author admits that "no parental control solutions are foolproof, and any kid with some tech savviness — or the willingness to learn — can probably find ways to circumvent them." He suggests a multi-layered approach that starts with candid talks with your kid.
Okay, that's it from me until next week. If you enjoyed this newsletter, and know of another parent who would as well, please feel free to forward it along.