Thank you for mentioning this! One of the reasons I started writing my book series was that I saw a real dearth of quality children's books that kids could relate to. People don't seem to understand that kids are smarter and more resilient than we think.

I feel so bad for the kids these days. They grow up on absolutely crappy ''shows''. I'm only 14 but i can tell the stuff i watched as a kid was actually great PLEASE, IF UR A PARENT, SHOW UR KID SOME SHOW FROM THE 2010's NOT 2024's

I don't have kids, but I've seen that zombiefication effect that cocomelon has on my sister's kids, and the way you can't get them to stop watching it. Aside from the fact that we aren't English speakers, and in school they actually get told off for using English (besides the only thing they learned is "no"...) I also despise the youtube shorts with weird voice-overs that the daughter watched? It's so sped-up and rushed and weird... The difference between having only access to TV AND limited kids' programming when I was young is so huge. (Kids' shows were only on in the morning and again in the late afternoon until 8pm, before kids-only channels existed, aka were imported)

Cocomelon has been proven to cause negative brain effects on children. It's crazy.

I'm a Gen Xer, with a four-year-old niece, and I'm disappointed with the current state of children's entertainment. Oh, sure, there are some good shows out there, like Bluey or Octonauts, but there's also a lot of junk out there, like Baby Shark. My mom and I can't even begin to fathom why they would make a children's show based on ocean predators. Sharks aren't cute, or friendly; they're dangerous, so what was the thinking there? Cocomelon is TRASH! It's ugly to look at, and it's annoying! 😡And the colors are too bright and garish. What's wrong with having children's entertainment that's calming, like watching old school episodes of Sesame Street, or Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood? It worked for us. Plus, today's kids are WAY too obsessed with their iPads! They get upset, if you attempt to confiscate them! Kids should spend more time playing or coloring, or reading, or having parents read to them, and less screen time.

The part about art! I loved all school subjects, my parents did an amazing job of trying to make me excited about all different vocations, and one show i loved growing up was little Einsteins. I hate the modern "unschooling" thing because as parents its their job to instill that enthusiasm in kids, but also bc i think it goes hand in hand with all of this, AND with the growing "you should just learn what u need to to work!" sentiment. Way to treat children like robots. I think worrying about the media they're watching/reading is extremely important.

I feel blessed to have grown up with media made to make kids curious, as well as expand their vocabulary, communication skills and ability to process information and emotions. My youngest brother has had a speech impediment all his life, into his teens now. I can’t help but partially blame the media he grew up with that incessantly babied him and left him pronouncing his L sounds and more in a ‘childish’ way. I’m thankful he’s friends with people that understand that difficulty and has gotten into complex media instead of watching KZbin shorts all day or something, but I wonder how much harm the shift in kid targeted content did to my wonderful younger brother’s development.

Speaking of remakes of old kids shows, I would recommend you not to watch the Bananas in Pyjamas one. Especially if you don't think that "Bananarific" or "Pyjamarama" are good catchphrases. And the teddies' personalities are reduced to "wild boy, cute girls." Like what?!

Yes, there are still good shows for kids today - but I still can't help thinking the opposite, like you. 😢 Funny that you should mention Franklin and Bear in the Big Blue House - those two shows was part of how I comforted myself during the pandemic (Barbapapa was another one). As an autistic grown-up, security is still important to me, so I know exactly what you talk about. Plus, even more than before, that I probably will end up like the mother from "About a boy" if I get children of my own🙂

What they did to Bob the Builder recently when they changed the Bob the Builder is a crime against humanity

The best shows are the ones you can still get into again as an adult and still enjoy a lot. I recently rediscovered my love for Bibi und Tina, which is a German kids franchise sharing the world with a few other series with characters having cameos in other series of the same universe. I'm 23 now. I used to have lots of audio plays of that series on cassette, though I gave them away about 8 or 9 years ago. Luckily I found another way to legally listen to the audio plays - and they perfectly hold up. Even my parents always somewhat enjoyed them. And yes, the animated series going along with this franchise is also very bright and colorful, but it's all enjoyable for adults too, teaching important lessons about friendship, horses and all kind of things in a fun way without dumbing anything down. The whole kiddinx universe containing Bibi und Tina, Bibi Blocksberg and many more is so enjoyable for any age, and this is how child entertainment should be. Colorful, fun, but not dumbing down anything. And the best thing: The newest episodes still hold up very well. I have as much fun with them experiencing them now for the first time as I had with the old episodes as a child.

I love hearing your story, and appreciate that you are willing to answer personal and business questions. A hi from Phoenix! - Janet

Thank you for everyone who submitted in questions! I appreciate everyone giving me a place to share my experience with my third baby. This is my first time talking about it publicly, but I believe it’s important to talk about. It’s very rare, but it does happen. When it did happen I looked everywhere for other women who experienced the same thing and couldn’t find anything. If you know someone who has experienced a False Pregnancy, let them know they aren’t crazy, and they aren’t alone ❤

that doctor is a quack omg. 'dopamine is drugs!' like. a little dopamine is fine it actually gives you the will to live omg. its natural as hell, but of course you can have too much of it. its fine to say that dopamine in large amounts can cause addiction but to demonize it outright is weird as hell.

This entire video could just be summed up quickly with, "Everything was so much better when I was a kid, because that was the nostalgic time for me!"

if i ever take care of children i will to the best of my ability try every new thing together with them - be that TV, activities, food, new people, etc. because i believe what they are supposed to enjoy, i should also enjoy. i think my parents did a good job because i can't remember a single thing i did as a child that i wouldn't enjoy doing now as well.

Thanks for the great video! I really wish KZbin actually cared to vet the videos going up on KZbin kids instead of prioritizing watch-time from the most vulnerable portion of the populous. -_-

Complain about this to people all the time. My family says "It's a kids show of course it's not good" and I really hate that attitude because when I was growing up they did not feed me drivel.

Hey, at least it's not Caillou.

Thank you so much for speaking about this topic! I thought was going crazy when I had a gut feeling that cocomelon and videos like it were hypnotizing kids. I feel validated from your message and encouraged to provide materials that foster deeper thinking for kids.

Media for 0-5 right now is awful, but media for older kids is amazing right now! I hope that this golden age of animation can start to include the littles. As a special educator, it’s so hard to find media for my low level learners that will encourage their learning of anything that’s on their IEPs. There’s nothing out there except 90s TV they refuse to watch and cocomelon style videos. Even the books, like you said! It’s so sad.

As a younger gen z, I had also a lot of good kids shows. Odd squad, backyardagains, wild kratts, and quite a lot others.

It's crazy that people latch on to the Sad Beige aesthetic that doesn't stimulate children at all (or at least not enough), yet overstimulate them with Cocomelon! I wonder if there's a correlation between the two.

You must be an amazing mom!!!! ❤❤❤❤

I’ve noticed that there’s been in increase in companies that prioritize money over quality. From movies getting so many unnecessary sequels to book stories prioritizing best selling authors over new ones. I’m not too surprised that it has affected the children market. I’m glad that there are people who still cares about the development of current and future kids, to write stories that actually has quality, even if it effects the money they will be receiving.

I was born in the mid seventies and got to see a lot of the best cartoons. Except for bluey, I feel like they've killed all of the children's programming. The remakes are discouraging... bob the builder and thomas the train used to be awesome.

I was always thinking about this. I dont have kids, but if i did i would not let them watch cocmelon and newer shows l, its not calm and relaxing for kids like what we had as kids 😮

I'm gen Z, so probably younger than your target audience, but as someone who's just finished childhood, I find it crazy how dramatically things have changed in as little as five years, and as someone who grew up in the 2010's, I feel like I narrowly dodged a bullet. It is my opinion that the current state of childrens' media is absolutely unacceptable. It's not that there's nothing worthwhile for children. Shows like Bluey and Dreamworks's current output of animated movies are things that lots of kids watch that I think are good for them, but media like this, with so much thought put into them are increasingly being outnumbered by the garbage of things like KZbin kids or soulless reboots. It's extremely telling that no one seems to be able to spare a single original idea for children's entertainment. And it would be one thing if these reboots were thoughtful but there is very clearly only the bare minimum effort put into them and it's reflected in just how many children care about them. Have you ever seen a child out in the wild passionate about the new Bernie or Winnie the Pooh show? I gaurantee you that the answer is no, because these products have nothing for the children to latch onto. I could be wrong, but it's clear that no one behind the scenes gives a shit about whether children are learning or even entertained. It's just the safest bet on what will make them money. It's not even mental candy at this point, it's mental crack. And your points about both toys and books both stood out to me. Toys have really taken a nose-dive in recent years, and were admittedly starting to, even when I was a kid. Can you name a single toy line that's had major success with children in recent years? Maybe you can but I can't, and while I do think that things like increased competition from social media, tablets and KZbin does play a role, I think there's just not as much effort put into creating quality toys or even marketing them! I'm serious about that second point. I know it's harder without cable tv but I feel like there's little to no effort in making toys appealing for kids, so companies pivot to the adult market because it's easier. As for books, I didn't even notice it until this video, but you really won't see something like Where the Wild Things Are or Goodnight Moon on the shelves today, would you? It's all goofy unicorns and bright colors and surface level lessons. I know because these are the sorts of picture books my 7-year old siblings are reading. And don't even get me started on middle-grade. The last book series I remember blowing up were the crazes of my generation, things like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries. Kids today just straight up don't read anymore. Like at all. I have a 10 year old sister who just never reads. Not even things like graphic novels or "cool, low-effort" books like the aforementioned series that even excited reluctant readers. I remember I took my little siblings to the library to try and encourage the habit and I was the only one among us who opened their book more than once after we left. I think a part of the problem is, aside from the lack of effort, no one is even trying to reach kids anymore. Corporations saw that millennials (no offense, we gen z folk are pretty bad with this too, it's just that you were first :/) were stupid easy to market to with nostalgic products so they allowed themselves to throw up their hands and say, "Screw it! Why should we have to market to kids without their own disposable income when adults who aren't at the mercy of parents will instead?" This is even reflected in things like the remodels of McDonald's. What used to be a kid friendly space isn't anymore. You could say that it's good that children aren't being subject to predatory sugary cereals or fast-food, the things that are taking the place of things like Disney are things like TikTok, Sephora, Squid Game (just my experience, but lots of young children seemed to be into that show when it first aired) and other things that just aren't appropriate for them. There's just nothing out there for kids because no one cares to create anything for them. So the kids of today just don't have anything. Of course, we can show them the oldies (Hell knows I liked my classic Power Puff Girls and Strawberry Shortcake, despite not growing up in the 90's or 2000's) but it kind of (perhaps unreasonably) unsettles me that my 10-year-old sister's favorite show Miraculous Ladybug is nearly over a decade old at this point. I remember being excited for new episodes of things like The Amazing World of Gumball or the Loud House, things that were uniquely gen Z. Kids today don't have something unique to them and their experiences, at least not in the amount previous generations had. Like, my Mom and I each had our own version of My Little Pony we loved and watched, but the recent generation, the one meant for kids today relied so heavily on Friendship is Magic (my show) that it was utterly crippled creatively and ultimately bombed. It's like these hacks don't even see generation Alpha. It's why, like you, I've been feeling the need to take matters into my own hands. I always wanted to make animated cartoons, but now I feel that this work is more important than ever. I'm a film student right now, studying to do just that, so it's nice to see someone else who cares just as much about this issue as me. I really feel like a lot of people don't realize or care about how dire it is now. Anyway, sorry about ranting in your comments section, I'm just really passionate about this topic, lmao! Nice video and good luck on your writing endeavors! :)

Sorry, but I’m jealous of a lot of kid’s media these days. Not talking about Cocomelon and it’s ilk, I’m talking about all the kidlit authors and illustrators I follow! Raul The Third, Jarrett Krosoczka, Raina Telgemeier, Dav Pilkey, and many others are crushing it right now. Not to mention all the positive representation now. Granted, a lot of the graphic novels and such now are for bigger kids but they’re no less great! There’s awesome kid’s stuff out there right now, you just have to look closer

Once I had to put on a show for my friend 's little sister (around 1 and a half at the time) so I put on the older episodes of sesame street, the girl had a tantrum and stopped when I put on cocomelon (against my will) 😭

The success of Cocomelon as chidlren's brain rot cannot be understated, however, I feel your nostalgia goggles were on a little too tightly. Many children's classic books such as The Hungry Caterpillar or Dr. Seuss use repeating or strange words because those words are 'fun' to say and help young children engage with reading. Word recognition and patterns is pivotal to a very young child's first reading experiences. Being able to see the word 'taco' by fun repeating phrases is how children's books have worked for decades. Go Jane Go, ect. -- Also, children's programming has seen a BOOM in quality in the last decade. Show's like Bluey, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, The Creature Cases, ect, all harken back to quality as continuation of 90s/00s children's television. Cocomelon is AWFUL, but it's pretty broad to paint the outlier success of one bad show over the many very good shows and books out right now.

I never connected it before this, but I feel like this may be a facet of a bigger issue, which is the dumbing down of all entertainment. I've noticed it big time in a lot of shows that I was initially excited to watch, but almost immediately was turned off of because the writing was so one dimensional. Or books that lack depth. As someone who has been a writer her entire life, who enjoys crafting a good story, it really irks me. I definitely mind myself rewatching shows, or rereading books rather than feel disappointed. Luckily my kids have never been into cocomelon, and part of that is probably because I don't let it play for very long. My kids enjoy some of the older animations like Looney Toons, Casper, Charlie Brown. I also purposely tend to go with open ended "older" style toys (wooden tracks, dollhouse, Mr Potato Head), although that's got to do with the fact that I homeschool and work from home part time, so my kids do have to entertain themselves at least a few hours a day and those toys make that easier to do.

very unique? really? a children's writer, while critiquing the (presumably educational) quality educational programs

I am a mom of two , and I’m doing my best to raise my kids with “less” screen time. I try not to use it as a crutch, and recently have been seeking out older tv shows. KZbin is great for that! There are so many older shoes on here that are so chill and actually teach something. I really can’t stand the newer kids programming. I feel sick when I watch babies and small children watching endless tv. It’s so obviously bad I don’t understand why people are ok with it. It’s like drugs 😅😅😅

Its funny that you mentioned Dragons love Tacos. I just listened to the book on KZbin( we don't have the ability to get to a library). I was so disappointed in the book, and I have been finding more and more books with the same lacking format. The decline in children's shows I could see coming a while ago( imma young millennial), all because of the decline of family movies/shows. Like you stated children shows use to care that parents would have to listen or watch children TV shows, with there children on the TV. Now a days the videos are available on mobile devices, where you can put in headphones/relocate. So parents don't have to hear the absurd amount of farting going on in a Bad Dinosaur episode. So why not just appeal to children. Just throw in some education(no matter how minimal it is) and your good. Some new shows My children like are the DuckTales reboot, Blippi(HELP ME,PLEASE), Bad Dinosaur, Carmen Sandiago reboot, Steven Universe, DinoTrux, Howdytoons. My children actually end up watching a lot of my old shows. Current favorites are Bonkers, Darkwing Duck, Static Shock, Bear in the big blue house, Invader Zim, Gumball, Kim possible, American Dragon Jake Long, Wild Kratts, ect. Not all good, and some oversaturated, but it keeps them engaged, without the Coco melon trance. Yes we did watch, but the tantrums and trance had me weaning them off. Still watch Gracies Corner and Hey bear eventhough they do the same thing, no tantrums though

The decline in children's toys and television is something that goes very hand in hand. Television shows characters are designed specifically to translate well into toy design, using bright eye catching colors and simple enough designs that are great for cheap mass productions. Of course, good shows and toys still exist, but just look at things like play line barbies from today vs 20 or even 10 years ago.

I love cartoons, and have only seen the cartoon side of this issue. It's gotten to the point where my husband and I are combing through our memories of old cartoons and making a list of what we can use for when we have our own kids, because a lot of the cartoons out today just do not stimulate the brain in any way, or provide any creative outlet for kids. I'd rather die than show my kid Cocomelon

I feel like there’s also more good children’s entertainment than ever before: Bluey, Craig of the Creek, Steven Universe, Wild Robot, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Lines on Nana’s Face, Wings of Fire, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, Julia and the Shark, the 5 Worlds series, not to mention the good older stuff that is still available. There are so many more stories that take their child audiences seriously and explain complex subjects in ways that kids can understand. There are more stories that acknowledge the emotional complexity of children and the confusion that kids must face when growing up. 70 years ago, most children’s books were pictures books, a handful of classics, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, and cheap, pulpy comics. So many eighties cartoons were just bad and only meant to sell toys. There has always been junk and there is certainly A LOT more of it now, especially online, but to say that children’s media is experiencing a downfall ignores a lot of the progress we’ve made and the wonderful recent stories that cover complex topics and explore emotional development. It’s also about variety. Sometimes it can be fun and cathartic for a kid to just read something that’s just silly! A lot of the silly/not as educational stuff I watched/read a kid still inspired imaginative, unstructured play in my backyard or inspired me to be brave or to be more kind. It’s definitely worth discussing what is junk and not, and what kinds of junk are okay for occasional consumption, but there is still a lot of good stuff out there!

As a severely autistic adult, the effect screens are having on the sensory development of most American children is fascinating. At first I was a bit offended when I heard the term "virtual autism", but learning more, it does make sense. There are physical changes to the brain that happen from supernormal stimulus occurring during development that probably interact with pre-existing slight aneurotypicalities and exacerbate their effects. We're literally disabling our children. This is brain damage. The fact there isn't a regulatory body that can quickly act on new research and pass legislation to protect children from neurologically harmful media (or deter parents from using it) is disgusting in the richest country in the world. We're going to be paying for it later with all the folks who are gonna need SSDI due to these emergent disabilities.

Listen. The Brave Little Toaster literally traumatized so many in my generation… I can’t get behind the nightmares from the crushed car scene. Or All Dogs go to Heaven’s Hell scene. Or Anastasia with the undead guy. Or the tears from a whole class of kids during Charlottes web, Old Yeller, or Where the Red Fern Grows, or Land Before Time. The TRAUMA LOLOLOL Yeah it was better than CocoMelon cause that’s horrifying. But I still hated our stuff as a kid too.

It not digital art that the problem it AI there two defter thing. Just like any art digital have great and not so great art please do not confuse the two thank you!

I love Rugrats. It’s such a unique show and full of imagination. It played with narratives where the babies are coming up with one thing but you see the reality and the resulting chaos of action taken based on the imagined circumstances.

Cocomellon is just UGLY to look at. I dont know why people are ok with subjecting kids to something so horrible to look at.

Im a 90s kid and the suff they have now for kids sucks

As someone who’s studying to become an educator and someone who’s very passionate about children’s entertainment, I believe that ideally, children’s media should be stimulating in a productive way. It should teach them, encourage creativity and imagination, or get them excited to do something like exercise or participate in their community. Media should try to influence kids. Not to consume more media, but to instead live more productive, healthy lives. Television should encourage kids to read and ride bikes. Books should teach kids about science and math. Toys should be open to creativity and allow kids to really use their imagination with them, and they can still do this while being entertaining and speaking to kids in their level. I have a very distinct memory of reading a book on the human body with my aunt. I had so many questions and the illustrations only served to further play with my imagination and serve my fascination. Children’s books should encourage questions, experimentation, and action, even if they’re not informational. In short, they should encourage thought. While I think it’s good to have some media aimed at kids that is silly and made for fun, the future educator in me wants to see more engaging media for future generations. Not just something that can hold their attention, but something that can have a positive impact on them.

One of the reasons books in the US use a lot of repetition of words is that the US uses the (scientifically widely debunked) method of sightwords instead of phonics. Instead of sounding things out letter by letter, a kid is taught to see a glob or shape and read that glob as a word. This is 1., why you see US reading scores drop off a cliff the second pictures are taken away from them and they can't guess things from clues anymore and 2., why word repetition pops up so much more in books from the post-00's US than other countries who use phonics (the scientifically proven, objectively correct way to teach reading) for their kids. If your kid isn't going to learn t + a = ta and c + o = co and ta + co = taco, and are instead learning taco = taco, getting no hint about what the word is from the letters and instead just looking at a glob, then they need to see the glob over and over again until they can identify it on sight. This, of course, does not actually help children. It's holding kids back from learning to actually read in a meaningful way, and is why you see so much of Gen Z respond to even one paragraph with, "I ain't reading all that." But it shouldn't be surprising that this is where US kids' books ended up when this is what the US education system goes with. And now, to prevent the inevitable "I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't heard of sightwords so everything is fine in US education!" response, some sources: features.apmreports.org/sold-a-story/ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cnb www.usatoday.com/story/sponsor-story/lexia-learning2022/2022/03/02/illiteracy-costing-america-heres-why/6848450001/

I own a cup that looks just like that one! BTW, I love your painting. I'm an artist myself and I'm hoping to become a children's book author and illustrator one day.😊❤