We don’t do Cocomelon because I’m trying to raise snobbish weirdos like myself, so this was spectacular to read, a comprehensive introduction! Love your posts!!!
Such a good article! So well researched and was waiting to get to this and see what you thought:
"Whether this bombardment of color, sound, and movement is harmful in any way is up for debate, but what we can be sure of is that the sensory onslaught is an intentional tactic to seize attention. Every smile, every laugh or cry, every ultra-saturated high-contrast frame is engineered for engagement. A 2022 New York Times article relayed that researchers at Moonbug Entertainment (the company that distributes Cocomelon IP) collect data on details as seemingly minute as child preferences between red and yellow school buses. Toddler test subjects at the company’s London HQ are placed in rooms with two television – the first displaying prototypes of Cocomelon episodes, and the smaller second (dubbed “ the Distractatron”) showing “a continuous loop of banal, real-world scenes”. Every time an eye strays toward the Distractatron, researchers take note of the exact moment Cocomelon lost complete dominion over the toddler’s attention and subsequently make tweaks accordingly."
We've steered clear of cocomelon (or anything American for that matter, sorry!) since day one, cocomelon is everything I think is awful about today's kids tv. We mostly have let our daughter watch Studio Ghibli and programmes like the Clangers, and the original Winnie the Pooh—all much slower pace, sweet storylines which are fantastical and fun, and not trying to grab her attention a million times in a minute to drive her to distraction. I try not to preach about this—but screens and what we let children watch is definitely something I care and think a lot about. Sure they can choose later, but we have microscopic control over so many key areas of their lives as a carer (what they eat, where they go, everything), so why not make sure what they consume digitally is also just as nourishing for their brains. Cocomelon feels to me like the equivalent of giving her a litre of coke to drink then wondering why she has a catastrophic meltdown half an hour later when her brain is popping off with sugar. As a parent you have to make hard choices which can often make you super unpopular with your child (and other parents) but this is one, so far, I haven't regretted for a second.
We don't show our son anything ugly like cocomelon, and he can't stand anything over stimulating anyway. There are plenty of inoffensive calming shows like Franklin or Thomas.
While channels like the quartering are rage-bait click mills, putting gay stuff in kids shows is weird. I doubt gay propaganda in shows is very effective anyway.
We don’t do Cocomelon because I’m trying to raise snobbish weirdos like myself, so this was spectacular to read, a comprehensive introduction! Love your posts!!!
Such a good article! So well researched and was waiting to get to this and see what you thought:
"Whether this bombardment of color, sound, and movement is harmful in any way is up for debate, but what we can be sure of is that the sensory onslaught is an intentional tactic to seize attention. Every smile, every laugh or cry, every ultra-saturated high-contrast frame is engineered for engagement. A 2022 New York Times article relayed that researchers at Moonbug Entertainment (the company that distributes Cocomelon IP) collect data on details as seemingly minute as child preferences between red and yellow school buses. Toddler test subjects at the company’s London HQ are placed in rooms with two television – the first displaying prototypes of Cocomelon episodes, and the smaller second (dubbed “ the Distractatron”) showing “a continuous loop of banal, real-world scenes”. Every time an eye strays toward the Distractatron, researchers take note of the exact moment Cocomelon lost complete dominion over the toddler’s attention and subsequently make tweaks accordingly."
We've steered clear of cocomelon (or anything American for that matter, sorry!) since day one, cocomelon is everything I think is awful about today's kids tv. We mostly have let our daughter watch Studio Ghibli and programmes like the Clangers, and the original Winnie the Pooh—all much slower pace, sweet storylines which are fantastical and fun, and not trying to grab her attention a million times in a minute to drive her to distraction. I try not to preach about this—but screens and what we let children watch is definitely something I care and think a lot about. Sure they can choose later, but we have microscopic control over so many key areas of their lives as a carer (what they eat, where they go, everything), so why not make sure what they consume digitally is also just as nourishing for their brains. Cocomelon feels to me like the equivalent of giving her a litre of coke to drink then wondering why she has a catastrophic meltdown half an hour later when her brain is popping off with sugar. As a parent you have to make hard choices which can often make you super unpopular with your child (and other parents) but this is one, so far, I haven't regretted for a second.
We don't show our son anything ugly like cocomelon, and he can't stand anything over stimulating anyway. There are plenty of inoffensive calming shows like Franklin or Thomas.
While channels like the quartering are rage-bait click mills, putting gay stuff in kids shows is weird. I doubt gay propaganda in shows is very effective anyway.