Struggle in Children's Entertainment

What if rather than 18,000 mini-adventures solved in under 30 minutes, there was a longer narrative arc? What would this tell the show's viewers? I don't think PAW Patrol is the cause of all the childhood anxiety we might see, but I do wonder how it may play a part.

Many television shows for young children unfold within the time allotted for each episode. From Sesame Street to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to PAW Patrol, adventures for the youngest viewers are small and contained. Rarely, if ever, does the adventure extend beyond the end credits. Shows for the next age bracket - Dora the Explorer, Elena of Avalor, Liv and Maddie, Danger Force, etc. - also keep the journeys within the confines of each episode.

If we consider the "if you see it, you can be it" mantra of representation in children's media, what would happen when children see their 2D heroes battling over a series of episodes rather than tie up problems in a neat little bow each day?

Does anyone remember Liberty's Kids? It has been a while since I've watched, but I remember narrative arcs longer than just one episode. The characters were on an extended journey where each episode involved a smaller quest that may or may not have implications for the next step. A better example may lie in the narrative structure of video games. Each level works as a new episode in the world of the character. While the landscape and bad guys may change, the hero character is still on a journey to get to the end. Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, even something as simple as Subway Surfers, keep the story going until the absolute end is reached.

I'm a bit out of my element with these musings. My background is in children's theatre, but I've seen plenty of child-centered television while raising my three kids. Please let me know if I am overlooking anything there, or clarify any misconceptions I may have. However, on a meta scale, I think it would be fascinating to see how well children would digest an entire season of a show that really challenges it characters to get to the end of the road. How might that influence their creative and critical thinking? What changes might they make when solutions don't quickly solve a problem? What influence would that have on their self-perception?

The Role of Theatre in Schools

March 12 is a dubious date in my school theatre program. There are two reasons for this distinction:

1. March 12, 2020 - opening night for our winter musical, Into the Woods, which was postponed due to Covid just minutes before the end of the school day
2. March 12, 2021 - the final day of filming our Covid-restricted winter musical, Disney's The Little Mermaid

There may be many things to say about redemption and tenacity when you look at those two dates together like that. It was certainly the message that I repeated to the students as we pushed toward the end of filming through a variety of Covid-, and non-Covid-, related delays and hiccups and issues and roadblocks. But what I think is more interesting, and likely more important, is the influence those experiences will have on the students who lived them. The past two years have been difficult, which makes it easy to view them negatively; however, there is strong positive flip-side to that story. I'm curious how it will be perceived by my students and how it will play a role in their futures.

That leads me back to a question that I love to explore: "what is the role of theatre in schools?"

School theatre saved my life; there are others who have told me the same thing. Participation in theatre programs has benefits within a student's future artistic life as well as within the "real world". That has been seen in research published in Youth Theatre Journal and in my own doctoral dissertation. Now I'm curious to learn how school theatre programs can play a role within the larger school community. What is the perception of these programs from participants and non-participants? How do school theatre programs influence the overall function of a school? What happens with theatre programs are not present, or suddenly seek to exist? How about when they are first built, or "revitalized" after a significant absence?

Looks like I have some reading to do... and surveying my students for their stories... uh oh! Is this another research project in the works?

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