After the Fax


I sent the following almost immediately after sending him the Fax.

To: Grandfather Dall
Subject: Re: BARNEY
In-reply-to: Your message of Mon, 27 May 1996 00:02:00 -0800.
---------

>David,
> I would like to receive the faxs.  I respect anyones opinion if they
>have a legitimate basis for that opinion.
>Parents, I have no complaints with their reporting.  TIME is a very
>subjective magazine and I haven't read USA today enough to make an
>opinion.

Well, I faxed everything that I thought would be of interest that I currenly have in my archives... I just hope I sent it to the right fax machine... ;)

Seriously, though, I hope those 8 pages of fax didn't overwhelm you or your fax machine... rather long fax!

>-> I've seen it.  And you're pretty hard pressed to find a book... but
>-> wait!  There's more!

>There are Barney books, I read to my grandkids almost daily and have
>purchased Barney books for their collection.

I stand corrected. However, I think you'll probably agree that the books aren't exactly the Barney product in the highest demand... ;)
Also, I salute you for at least watching the show with them; one of the things that we in the Jihad are afraid of and hate is when parents plop their kids in front of the TV as a babysitter without paying any attention to what they're really watching--and Barney seems to be the most enticing of shows to do this with...

>-> probably socialistic.  But regardless of if it is or not, it's blind
>-> following and does nothing to encourage kids to think, act, read, or
>-> learn on their own.  It does nothing except encourage kids to watch
>-> his show and sing his songs.

>I guess I see different things... I see it teaches children to be
>considerate of others.


Heh. This is part of why we don't connect politics with Barney--you can really see him as being either extreme if you really try. And there have been people who have posted who *have*. Not long time members, mind you, but people who just drift through...

>After my retirement, I returned to school and worked part time at a
>video store in the evenings and the kids that watch Barney and that type
>movies were more polite and well mannered than those that watched or
>played video games with power rangers and ren & sempy and the simpsons.


I've seen a lot of things happening with respect to the children today... and I have a hard time connecting shows like the simpsons and Beevis and Butthead directly with the behavior--I link it more to parenting, unfortunately... parents, after all, control what their kids watch. And personally, I don't see those shows as kids' shows--I see them as targeted more at teenagers and college students.
So why argue Barney? Because he's portrayed as being so wonderful and educational, yet I feel he's just the opposite. I've never heard anyone claim the other shows were edducational... ;) Anyway, that's why I don't care much about those other shows but do argue Barney. Besides, I think it's much more common knowledge that such shows aren't appropriate for young children. But then too, as the old addage goes... "Common Knowledge--isn't." ;)

>causes they give for much abnormal behavior...attention getting.


Yes indeed. ;) But I put it to you that Barney does not provide that attention, and so the underlying problem is still there. A TV show is no subsitute for good parenting, as I'm sure you know and agree. ;) And, as I said before, this is one of our strongest objections to the show... using the TV as a babysitter.
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox. I probably should have quit with the fax. ;)