Let's get controversial.
This is a hot topic at our house. Baby Bear.
He is lovable and cute and has a bit of a speech issue. We have discussions at our house about this character who "dwahs" (draws). A couple of our kids have had issues with their r's themselves. Do you think seeing and hearing someone who speaks like them on Sesame Street perpetuates the problem or makes kids feel better about themselves? Discuss.
18 comments:
I class him with Elmo -- unnecessarily ANNOYING. Perhaps kids can relate (although my own son was in speech therapy when he was younger and was never very interested in this character) but I don't think Baby Bear's imperfect speech makes him more endearing or enhances the Sesame Street experience.
When children speak this way, it is cute, but with puppets, not so much.
i don't know too many highschoolers that talk like the little guy.. hum. i'm no help.
Controversial Heth...I'm gonna say it makes them feel better about themselves...in the same way that Biggest Loser makes me feel better about myself ;)
Personally I hate "baby" talk, so he drives me nuts without the "r" issue!
I think both your points are probably right...it perpetuates it a little, but also must be of some comfort to those who are struggling.
I think that kids really to aquire their parents speech more than other influences, of course I had my kids here all the time too and we didn't watch too much TV. Overall, I think they want to grow up like mom and dad, not baby bear.
My daughter talked in the 3person, like Elmo does till she was 2 1/2. It drove me crazy so I banned Elmo for awhile. I don't think she learned it from Elmo, but I also think watching him didn't help any either. So, I think if my child had speech problems like baby bear, I would probably ban him for a while too. Even just for my own sanity!
I tend to think that Baby Bear will be on the episode for, maybe, 5 minutes a day. Not really enough to perpetuate a bad habit, or enough of a role model to make kids feel better. I think he is just a cute character on a show where no one says stu***, b***, or any other of my pet peeve words. Give me Elmo and Baby Bear over Sponge Bob any day.
Heather
If he was on as long as Elmo everyday, it may be a problem. I think kids pick up on speech and other things on the REAL FRIENDS and people they spend time with for the most part. Our (4) kids pick up on phrases and attitudes, but not the "way" of talking. I would say it hinders developing healthy speech more than helps it get better, but it also would make kids feel better about themselves - that they are accepted and loved just the way they are right now.
wow that is a REALLY good question. I agree w/ alot of these comments...if he's only on a few mins a day, i don't think it should cause speech problems. Most young children tend to not even notice that stuff.
Nah, I don't think baby bear encourages it. Ethan talks the same way. I think he just started that way and it became a habit. I think it's more just a matter of him breaking the habit. He finally got over saying his l's like w's. By they way, you should check out the children's book called "Hooway for Wodney Wat" by Helen Lester. I love her and that book is really cute. I've wead it to ethan sevwal times. He weally likes it too.
But, this post reminded me of my most FAVORITE kids' cartoon, Wonder Pets! I absolutely love that show. Ming Ming (the duck) talks like that too, "This...is...seewious."
I think if I just keep working with Ethan like I did on the "l" thing, he'll eventually bweak the habit.
Ming Ming on the Wonder Pets has the same speech issues.
One of my boys spent two years in speech therapy and still has a little trouble. I don't think characters on shows hurt kids who have speech problems. Baby Bear and Ming Ming's speech is how thousands of preschoolers talk in real life. I guess maybe it teaches children there are variances in speech?
I still can't say the word "drawer" to save my life.
Hey Heth, me again. Baby Bear just came on and I think I know why he's not cute. He doesn't sound like a kid. He sounds like a grown up. If he had a child-like voice with those r's (like Ming Ming) he'd be a lot cuter.
As a mom of a toddler in speech therapy, although not for that particular problem, I would take any kind of talking any day!
I couldn't put my finger on what i was feeling until Ann said my words. She is brilliant. BTW, my son couldn't do R's, S's or L's. He outgrew most of it by kindergarten. The videos we have of him during the impediment time are the cutest things ever. It would not be so cute at 19, but thankfully, that's not an issue. Messiness. That's the issue now.
I just wanna know who is taking which sides of this *discussion* at your home...then I'll make my decision based on that! :)
(that's right, I am totally going jr. high on this one.)
hmmm- I sort of don't think they even notice it.
I had R issues as a kid, and people would correct me and I had NO clue what they were talking about. In my head, it sounded fine...
When people over corrected me, I would get frustrated with them for being so picky when clearly nothing was wrong.
People would even say things both ways trying to get me to "hear" the difference, and I couldn't.
I finally went to speech therapy in third grade and got it fixed, but I have no lasting esteem issues.
I'm going to second what Danielle just said. Most kids who have speech impediments don't realize that they are saying it wrong, especially preschoolers, so I would think that the argument of it creating a feeling of belonging is silly. However, I also don't see the harm of watching a cute bear for a few minutes, at least from a speech perspective. Common speech problems (like switching r's for w's) usually aren't considered problems until the child is school aged anyway. I say, if you're annoyed by him that much, turn it off. If not, it's not going to do your child any harm.
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