As your little ones get older, it’s up to you to decide which TV shows they can and can’t use up all their screen time on.
Many are drawing the line at Peppa Pig. But, for some, it’s Bluey.
“It was making them think that naughtiness is funny”
Michelle Barrow, on social media under her band’s name, Mama Nous, has taken to Instagram this week with her husband, sharing an update on her household’s ban on the show Bluey.
Now three weeks into the ban, Michelle said she’s noticed some drastic changes in the behavior of her twin boys, saying that Bluey was causing them to have tantrums, and push boundaries.
“It typically starts with them just constantly pushing boundaries, or immediate tantrums when the show… is over,” her husband said.
Michelle added that the episode format was specifically to blame.
“We don’t see that so much with slower paced shows, but also just longer shows,” she said.
“It didn’t matter with Bluey how much we would set expectations of ‘This is how many episodes we’re going to watch’. It’s something about that eight-minute format where they’re just like ‘More, more, just one more’.”
Though each episode includes positive behaviours and encourages good morals, the pair said their children weren’t receptive to this, adding that they rejected claims it was a low-stimulation show.
“I think the biggest piece that I started to notice after we took a break from it was the ways in which it was making them think that naughtiness is funny, and that pushing boundaries is a joke,” she said.
“There’s not a lot of conflict resolution in an eight-minute episode, and I know that each one wraps up with a moral, but at least for our kids, I feel like they weren’t getting to that moral well.”
“The episodes are too short and seem like cocaine”
It turns out, the couple weren’t alone in their beliefs, with a number of commenters sharing their own stories of the episodes simply being too much.
“Literally episode 2: the dad is saying ‘no’ during ‘hospital’ play and the kids are jabbing him roughly repeatedly and laughing. If anyone says ‘no’ in our family that has to be a hard stop. I’m raising two boys – I don’t play about disrespecting ‘no’. We never turned it on again,” one person said.
“We had to send Bluey on vacation multiple times. The episodes are too short and seem like cocaine to our kids. Just one more bump!” another related.
“Some of the episodes are lovely and low energy – Rain, Sleepy Time, the Creek – but I agree that some of them are too much for our kids,” said a third.
“I actually thought this was a joke!”
But, the naysayers were certainly in the minority, with Bluey-loving parents flooding to the comments to sing the show’s praises.
“I actually thought this was a joke to begin with! I feel the opposite. Bluey to our family feels slow paced and funny with a good message. I also love how much it brings the parents into the show – you rarely see parent characters playing with the children in such an imaginative, kind way,” said one person.
“I love Bluey, the messages, the authenticity and the playfulness. It’s one of the best things on television for children, [in my opinion],” another agreed.
Others suggested the disconnect was simply a cultural difference, adding that for Aussies, this kind of ‘cheeky’ behaviour is completely normal.
“Yeah nah, Bluey is an amazing show, a pretty on point portrayal of a normal Aussie family. It teaches morals and values of a good family, kids are meant to push boundaries and to feel comfortable doing that. Cheekiness is a part of Aussie culture, literally everyone is taking the piss with everyone all the time. So maybe that just doesn’t gel with you guys,” one commenter suggested.
“I think there’s also a HUGE difference between Australian culture and American culture which means, from an American perspective, some things will hit differently. I also think Bluey’s target families are ones with cheeky kids, irreverent dads, mums trying to find the right balance, etc. The delivery is important because these slightly chaotic, funny, and what we would call ‘larrikin’ families aren’t picture perfect. In Australia, a LOT of the American shows are often seen as way too ‘twee’ or saccharine and so if you’re the type of family who watches together this makes Australian parents lose their minds.”
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