PBS Kids EVP GM: "We're Making 'Good for the Brain' Content"

So many kids are in front of so many screens filling their heads with so much content. Are you watching ‘what’ they’re watching? It matters.

We're living in a world where it's very hard to control what our kids are watching on screens. Moms and Grandmas and baby-sitters have all been guilty at times of plopping children in front of a screen to ‘buy time’, rather than really sit there and monitor exactly what they're watching.

If you’re a parent or caretaker of children you need to be aware of ‘what’ they’re watching because it totally influences how young children think, behave and feel. Both good and bad.

I'm a PBS fan. They're the number one children's education media brand and Sarah DeWitt is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of PBS KIDS. She's responsible for the strategic direction of the very dynamic PBS KIDS media service that supports kids 2 to 8, their parents, teachers, caregivers, grandparents, and all the local communities. I invited her to join me to talk about the latest greatest at PBS KIDS and what they know and are utilizing from all the behavioral research time they've invested, in creating 'good for the brain' content.

Sarah says, “We know that when kids are watching shows that are really thoughtful and created so that they are learning from them, that it really can model good behavior. It can get kids more interested in learning. It can help them actually learn some really important skills." 

"Summertime is a time where often kids kind of have some learning loss between the school years, but media can be a great way to help reinforce some of those things that kids learn in school, or if your kid hasn't started school yet, say a four-year-old getting ready to go to preschool, media can really help with school readiness and get kids kind of in that mindset if you make some good choices and kind of really pay attention to what kids are watching.“

Sarah says, for example for a four-year-old, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is really a great show. It's based on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and all of that research that he did on that show where we know kids really can learn from the media. Daniel Tiger is helping kids recognize how they fit into the world, how they manage their own emotions, but it also gives kids great songs, give parents great songs that can reinforce those lessons at home. 

(Sarahs kids, 8 and 11, grew up watching Daniel Tiger and just last night at dinner, she said, one of them sang, you gotta try new foods cause they might taste good. LOL Good job PBS!)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street, address pre-school confusions between friends and miscommunications. 

For kids who are a little older, shows like ‘Arthur ‘do a great job addressing things like bullying and being scared or needing to talk to a grown-up. 

Sarah says, a really important media habit that they want people to set up that they try to model in their shows, is that when kids watch something or play something or listen to something, they should talk about it with their family, positive or negative. 

Even if adults haven’t watched the shows their kids watched themselves, they should get in the habit of asking questions about those shows and get their kids to talk about what they’re watching. 

How kids show up to other kids is a very big thing. And again, a lot of parents don't realize, I'm sure, that some of the stuff their kids are watching on other networks, on their screens, by accident, on YouTube, whatever that platform is, that parents have no clue about, might be creating negative behavior. 

PBS KIDS works with child development experts and also subject matter experts so that every one of their shows is based on a curriculum and based on learning frameworks. 

Curious George for example, is based on an engineering curriculum. George is really curious, he takes things apart and puts them back together. 

“When you talk about child development and identity”, says Sarah, “there are a couple of shows that I think are doing this really well right now. We have a show called Alma's Way. It's created by Sonia Manzano, who was Maria on Sesame Street. This is all about thinking through problems. Alma is playing with other kids, working with other kids. She lives in the Bronx. She's Puerto Rican. And sometimes she messes up. And she has to stop and really think through that problem in order to decide what she's going to do next. “

“Another one that I think is really great is called Rosie's Rules. This one is based on a social studies curriculum. So when you're talking about young kids, that is about who am I in relationship to the members of my family? So like, what does it mean that I am a sister? And how am I a good sister? And how am I a sister to my older step-sister and a sister to my younger brother? But then also getting to the next level of like, what does it mean that I'm in a community? How do I get mail? Who take the garbage out? So it gets into those things as well. “

PBS KIDS work with experts to help them think about the best, most age-appropriate way to introduce some of these ideas and to give kids a foundation that they can then build on as they grow up.

As new technology such as AI is being introduced, Sara DeWitt says, "now is the time to have a deeper, more open dialogue about positive digital media experiences for young children, and how we can use these tools to form good media habits that can address topics like children’s mental health, school readiness, critical thinking, and ultimately, the importance of human connection."

PBS KIDS is making their good-for-the-brain content available to all kids, regardless of access to internet, age of devices, differing learning styles and abilities, and more.

If you have or care for young children, I encourage you to take a listen to this short podcast of my warm live conversation with Sarah Dewitt EVP & GM PBS KIDS on The Debbie Nigro Show. Adults need to educate themsleves about how best to educate their children.