to not get the emphasis on friends in children's TV?

it only gets worse! Teenagers are bombarded with images of big social groups all getting along fabulously. I do not know a single adult with a big 'friendship group' and they often cause untold misery ime.

I think it’s right to focus on the ins and outs of social relationships if that’s what’s important for the age range watching. But they could stop singing about how friendship is the be all and end all of happiness.

Maybe Mr Tumble could write some songs about how you might find it easier to be around other kids if you join a structured activity with a shared common interest so you don’t have to chat and make eye contact until you’re ready. Make that into a cute rhyme!

It s probably another way to pull children from their parents influence and ingrain the idea that friends are what really matters earlier and earlier. Never realised that about those cartoons,thank you for making me aware!

I agree with PPs that this is an interesting discussion! I'm not sure whether I agree or disagree but I'm following with interest.

I agree that often kids' TV gives an unrealistically harmonious portrayal of friendships- I get that it's intended to model good behaviour, but I can imagine some children watching and worrying that their friendships aren't as smooth sailing. I highly recommend Kiri and Lou on iPlayer for a more realistic take. The characters' friendship is important, but they often get things wrong by being selfish, unkind or taking more than their fair share of something, and then learn how to put things right. It also deals with other issues relevant to small children, like being self-conscious or getting stressed. Plus, Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords voices Lou 😁

Just going to recommend watching Pablo on iplayer. Thoughtful show featuring an ASD boy.

You make an excellent point here, OP.
Thank you.

DS has ASD and struggles a bit to engage with other kids, so I think it's helpful for him to see interactions modelled which he can learn from. Though tbh he prefers stuff he learns from like Messy Goes to Okido or Horrible Histories.

But the point of Mr Tumble is that we can all be friends even when some of those friends or even when you yourself are differently abled in some way. The whole point is that friendship is not out of reach for these kids. We're all friends is a lovely message in this context and a necessary one to help against ableism.

Yeah this is true x

I was going to say this is the most unique topic I have seen in a long time on MN!

I agree with you.

My son is 8, he has friends at school. But most of them live a short car ride away. He wants the "running in and out of each others houses" friendships that he sees on tv. And sleepovers (which I don't allow. Not yet, anyway).

He definitely seems to think "if you're nice, you'll have friends" as it's the message he's seen on tv. But I think he is quite young / innocent for 8. Some other boys his age are much more street smart and they will sometimes laugh at him for being "babyish". And he doesn't know how to respond or deal with that,

I remember 7yo DS sobbing in the lockdowns after watching cartoons like Yu Gi Oh and Pokémon that he didn't have any friends and he dearly wanted a "true friend"

He'd had friends at school but was prohibited from meeting them and I didn't know the parents well enough to see who was up for some casual law-breaking. Social gaps grew between children permitted to go to school and those who were excluded for lengthy periods. It took a long time to get his social confidence back to where it had been.

In children's TV, there's a lot of "small world" social skills and modelling and friends are part of that. By showing friendships, the interpersonal skills are explored. In older children's and adult media, friends make plots more dynamic and help explore different aspects of character.

Cast Away was a brilliant film, but Wilson didn't say much back, and it would be a tad dull if it was common to have plots of lone characters with no dialogue opportunities!

Just coming to say thank you because I'd never thought about this and it's given me a lot to ponder, and it's rare to read something completely new! I have no idea whether I agree or not but you've really made me think and see things differently.

But isn’t the reason people worry about their children not having friends, is because having them is importance and can lead to a lot of happiness? I’d be so upset if my kids had no friends to play with at school for example. Teaching them how to be kind, take turns, ask questions etc is part of all of that.

Yes, I agree and actually understanding that you can disagree with people is okay and you don’t need them to always be your friend.

Just to add I do think friends can be very important as they are people who choose to be with you unlike parents who are kind of are obliged to. But just think their importance is over-emphasized in the media and can lead to a sense of why isn't my life like that.

I disagree. At the age of the demographic of CBeebies, so about 2-3yrs, children are ongoing through a rapid and important period of social development.