Kids in Poland to learn "mental" Teletubbies

[Eki]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6698753.stm



Poland targets 'gay' Teletubbies
By Adam Easton
BBC News, Warsaw


The spokesperson for children's rights in Poland, Ewa Sowinska, singled out Tinky Winky, the purple character with a triangular aerial on his head.

"I noticed he was carrying a woman's handbag," she told a magazine. "At first, I didn't realise he was a boy."

EU officials have criticised Polish government policy towards homosexuals.

Ms Sowinska wants the psychologists to make a recommendation about whether the children's show should be broadcast on public television.

Poland's authorities have recently initiated a series of moves to outlaw the promotion of homosexuality among the nation's children.

Tinky Winky's psychological evaluation is being treated fairly light-heartedly by many people here.

One radio station asked its listeners to vote for the most suspicious children's show. Some e-mailed in, saying that Winnie the Pooh had only male friends.

Even Ms Sowinska has backtracked a little, insisting that she does not believe the Teletubbies is a threat to the nation's children. But the evaluation is still going ahead and her office can recommend that the show should be taken off the air.

[race aficionado]

I watched Tinky Winky and friends with my son when he was a toddler.

It messed us both for life.


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . . .


:s mokin:

[schmenke]

I don't let my rugrats watch that show. Not because of any perceived homosexual characters ( :rolleyes: ) but because it's a mindless uneducational show :s

[Schultz]

I sure hope the EU is giving Poland a hard time about this. If it wasn't so funny, i'd say it is really really sad.

[Daniel]

I don't let my rugrats watch that show. Not because of any perceived homosexual characters ( :rolleyes: ) but because it's a mindless uneducational show :s
Do you let them watch Rugrats?

I believe it's stupid shows like the Telletubbies which are leading to the dumbing down of children.

[schmenke]

Do you let them watch Rugrats?...

No. We're somewhat selective in what we let them (well, my 2 1/2 year old anyways) watch.

[Daniel]

No. We're somewhat selective in what we let them (well, my 2 1/2 year old anyways) watch.
Just out of curiosity what would a typical day's TV viewing for your eldest daughter consist of? :)

If I had children and they were going to watch TV they'd be watching Discovery or the History channel and that's about it :)

[schmenke]

Just out of curiosity what would a typical day's TV viewing for your eldest daughter consist of? ...

Not much to be honest. The only time that Chloë watches any t.v. is when I'm not at home and the missus needs to get something done without having her nipping at her ankles. So she'll pop in a Dora dvd or something similar to keep her entertained for an hour or so.
Chloë doesn't really care for t.v. though. She'd much rather read a book :) She's known her ABC's for some time now and is already starting to recognise simple words :)

[janneppi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6698753.stm
I saw the news first at lehti.samizdat.info (sorry , not in eglish), right along with news like:
gay man did a somersault ,
NATO conciders military action agains Serbia's Eurovision victory,
Stalin sorry about Estonian statue argument
Something however was different about it, it seemed so bleeding stupid not to be true news. :D

[Eki]

This says it all: "I noticed he was carrying a woman's handbag," she told a magazine. "At first, I didn't realise he was a boy."

If she as a grown woman didn't realise he was a boy, how do children 3 years and younger realise it?

[Jaws]

Mrs Jaws has actually done a fair bit of study on this subject (Child Psychology Degree) and has been a teacher for over 10 years.

I was the first one to point the finger at TV programmes that I perceived to be mind numbing, but she told me that a fundamental part of intellectual growth is derived from a variety of stimulation, not "education" as we would imagine. For example, an adult would perceive that a show that explains the alphabet would be more beneficial than a show that has colour, music and activity, but that is not necessarilly the case. I guess it comes down moderation and a variety of stimuli. I have to say, I'd much rather see my ratbags with a book or drawing than watching TV.

As for dumbing down, I think Fox has more explaining to do than the teletubbies. At least teletubbies admits it's delivery is childlike ;)

[Mark]

If I had children and they were going to watch TV they'd be watching Discovery or the History channel and that's about it :)

Then they wouldn't watch TV. Discovery is going to be beyond them until they are much older than the target age for telletubbies. Pre-school TV is a useful educational aid, of course it shouldn't replace parents sitting down with kids and reading with them etc.

I'm finding that for French TV, programmes aimed at pre-schoolers are all I can understand :p

[CarlMetro]

Just like adults, children need to have a little time off too. My son spends his whole day, usually from 8 am to 5.30 pm at nursery school. During that time he is learning all the time. Whether it is social interaction with his peers, art, singing or one of the hundreds of different things they do there every week. Just like an adult needs time away from work, children need time off of learning.

We allow Ollie 1 hour a day in which he gets to choose the TV programmes, be that Postman Pat, Little Red Tractor or watching the CBeebies bedtime hour. He'll usually sit on the sofa with some milk and and just watch the programmes, sometimes he plays with his toys whilst the programmes are on in the background which is fine, it's his time. He will then have a bath and a story from either of us before going to bed.

We have used the removal of TV and story privileges as punishment several times if he comes home and has had more than three time-outs at nursery, it has given us a way of getting him to understand bad behaviour means loss of something he likes.

Having said all of that, I don't like Teletubbies, not for the fact that Tinky Winkie carries a handbag but for the fact of the way they speak. To my knowledge Ollie has never watched a whole episode because I think it would be regressive in teaching a child language skills, although some of the things covered in the programme would prove beneficial to some teenagers ;)

[Daniel]

Then they wouldn't watch TV. Discovery is going to be beyond them until they are much older than the target age for telletubbies. Pre-school TV is a useful educational aid, of course it shouldn't replace parents sitting down with kids and reading with them etc.

I'm finding that for French TV, programmes aimed at pre-schoolers are all I can understand :p

Got a tip for you.

I sometimes play on French game servers and when someone's pissing me off I just say "Le **** off and leave me alone you moron" or something to that effect. Those foreign devils know what we're saying! They just pretend not to :p

[Eki]

Got a tip for you.

I sometimes play on French game servers and when someone's pissing me off I just say "Le **** off and leave me alone you moron" or something to that effect. Those foreign devils know what we're saying! They just pretend not to :p
We can say anything we like about you in our own language and you wouldn't understand. You can't do the same to us in English. Mitäs siihen sanot, senkin vompatinoksennus?

[Daniel]

We can say anything we like about you in our own language and you wouldn't understand. You can't do the same to us in English. Mitäs siihen sanot, senkin vompatinoksennus?
Same to you :angryfire

[BDunnell]

The most disturbing thing about this otherwise funny story is what it tells us about the Polish government's attitude to gay people. I wonder whether any children have grown up gay as a result of watching Tinky Winky's antics?

When I was a kid, from the age of about four, I used to mainly watch rallying highlights on BBC and ITV. Never did me any harm.

[BDunnell]

We can say anything we like about you in our own language and you wouldn't understand. You can't do the same to us in English. Mitäs siihen sanot, senkin vompatinoksennus?

How dare you. You don't even know my mother.