Is Caillou ruining our children?

Plenty of anger and animosity is sweeping the Internet over the show, Caillou and how this 4 year old boy is teaching kids how to be bratty, whiny, narcissistic, monsters.

"Children who watch this program tend to copy Caillou’s behavior. Whining, demanding, throwing (themselves) on the floor kicking and screaming,” writes a Michigan mother on the petition “Remove ‘Caillou’ from the air.” (National Post)

To be honest, I've never actually watched Caillou so yesterday after reading a National Post article ridiculing the show, I decided to watch the show and see for myself if the article reflects my opinions about the show. 

My conclusion after watching Caillou, is that the program is actually good for children and I would be happy to have my children watch Caillou. 

Caillou illustrates how life looks like from the eyes of a 4 year old boy. It is made for young children and shows the world from the perspective of a child. The program is not made for parents who want to see an ideal child who behaves in unrealistic ways and never gets frustrated, angry or upset. 

Anyways this experience also reiterates that we can't accept everything we read at face value. What this taught me is that there so much info out on the web and it seems so important to be critical thinkers and teach our children this skill as we all navigate the web.