*ESSAY* My Problems with Barney

My Problems with Barney

Just to let you know, I have nothing against most children’s shows, just this one.

Barney is what I think is wrong with the world today. Some of you may ask “What is wrong with a kiddy friendly and educational show?” Well, I can list a few things.

First off Barney is said to be an educational show that helps aid children in development. However, if you watch further, not only is Barney just made for “selling out” to little ones, it also teaches some rather harzardous lessons. These hazardous lessons are the way that the Lyon’s Group does not deliver a realistic view of life, but with a sugar coated, politically correct view of life, where negativity and problems should not exist. This also leads to the sugar coating of fairy tales and history as well, which is very unhealthy indeed. Now G Rated means “Barney rated”. That is sad, isn’t it. It is almost like telling kids that the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has never happened. And the sad thing is, kids are eating up all of that. Protecting kids is good, but giving them only a PC and sugar coated view of life is unhealthy.

Dr. Lisa Korman, a child psychologist researches the fact that ‘Using denial as a primary coping strategy, means in stark contrasts to PBS classics like “Sesame Street”, “Lambchop’s Play Along” and “Mr Roger’s Neighborhood”, “Barney” does NOT help children learn to tolerate sorrowful or stressful situations’.

And she is right. Before you flame me, here are some example of the situations handled on the show:

• Kathy is feeling sad and jealous because, unlike her friends, she has no siblings or father (perhaps she mentioned that her dad has died). "Oh, Kathy," Barney promptly responds in a loving yet chiding voice, "you have a mother and grandmother who love you very much. That’s a wonderful-size family!"

• Tina woefully announces, "I’m having a really bad day." Immediately, Barney replies, "Well, I think your day will get much better now that we’re all together!" And her older sister Luci says just moments later, "Try not to worry..., Tina. Maybe if we sang a happy song, you’d feel better!"

• Barney trips on a toy and crashes to the floor. He is down on the ground, but still is laughing and is happy as if nothing has happened.

• Kathy is scared to visit the doctor and get a shot. Barney immediately tries to convince her that there’s nothing to be afraid of. He becomes "Dr. Barney" and when Kathy gets her make-believe shot, she exclaims, "You’re right! That didn’t hurt too much!" As the show concludes, Barney asks, "Now, are you still scared to visit the real doctor?" When a jubilant, incredulous Kathy replies, "I’m not scared!", Barney and gang explode with cheers.

• Shawn looks at his easel in dismay and says, "I’m not a very good painter." Luci replies, "Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Shawn." Moments later, Barney says, "Luci’s right, Shawn. Your painting of me is terrific! You’re a wonderful artist!"

• Tina accidentally drops some records and they shatter on the floor. "I’m sorry!" she exclaims. "That’s okay," says Barney, "I’ll take care of it." "But how?" Tina asks woefully. "With a little imagination..." he replies, and the broken pieces magically become one big record.


Here is how it really should be handled (as is handled on most good children’s shows):

• When Kathy is depressed about her family, Barney can say, "I guess it’s lonely without a Dad or a brother or sister."

• When Tina announces, "I’m having a really bad day," Barney can say, "Please tell me about it."

• When Kathy is afraid to visit her doctor, Barney can say, "Thank you for telling me. What scares you the most?" And when Kathy gets her make-believe shot, she can say, "Barney, it did hurt, but only for a second."

• When Shawn says, "I’m not a very good painter," he can be told, "You know, sometimes we don’t like our picture but we can still like painting."

• When Tina accidentally broke the records, Barney could have helped in a creative manner, you know, without magic.

• Last but not least, when Barney crashes to the floor, he can say, "That really hurt!" without smiling and laughing. At least it shows that he is really hurt and not just joking about it.



Barney could have been a good and believable show for both children and adults to watch, but it wasn’t. Its purpose was just for merchandising reasons and covering up reality. There are much better programs for children out there, if you look hard enough. Or better yet, read to your children. Read them stories how they originally were, instead of giving them the syndicated “sugar-coated” material.

In other words, do not give into Barney or any show imitating it. It will not do you nor your kids any good. You will probably thankful for it once you open your eyes and get a better view of things. Life is lovely, and importantly, life is too short to give into a TV company that pretends to care about children, but really care about money and encourages the use of TV and computers as a babysitter (Which we know is not right).