Old But Timeless Values – Thank You Mr. Rogers

Pat and I recently watched a  documentary on Netflix on Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) called, “Wont you be my neighbour? (not to be confused with the new Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers).

For those whose memory fails them or are too young to remember him, he was the host of several children’s TV programmes. The first was called, “Mr. Rogers” and  was produced by the CBC.  (Mr. Dress Up was a spinoff of this programme.)

After several years he returned to the U.S. and created another programme called,   “Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood” which ran  from 1968 until 2001, ending when he was 73.  At its peak, it reached into 1.8 million homes.

To create a sense of comfort, consistency and familiarity he always appeared in a cardigan sweater and sneakers. It was purposely slow moving, and while simple in its format, it dealt beautifully and sensitively with children’s feelings, reasoning, morals, importance of kindness and self-worth. He brought the message to children that they are okay and “I like you just the way you are.“

Using a puppet, he  had  quiet and intimate discussions with the children about  difficult subjects such as divorce, death of a pet, arrival of  a new sibling and racial issues. One difficult topic he dealt with was the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.

Another very famous episode showed Mr. Rogers bathing his hot feet in the same pool as a black police officer.  This was at a time of tense racial happenings in the U.S.

Fred Rogers was in fact a Presbyterian minister, who thought his calling was to work with children. He himself had been bullied as a child  His strength was his listening and being able to tap into children’s feelings and support their emotional needs.

An unanswered question though is what long-term impact did he have on the millions of children who watched his programme? Our guess is it was huge. Our children were certainly affected. In fact, our son Stuart brought this documentary to our attention.

We have not seen the new Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers, but we are looking forward to it.  

Thank you, Fred Rogers.  You are still a great reminder of the values that are important, and we like you just the way you are.  Good viewing.

Till next time,

Chris Snyder