THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 7, 1994 TAG: 9406070043
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940607 LENGTH: Medium
The debate has been brewing on playgrounds, in magazines, even in the halls of academia.
{REST} Recently, a Virginia Wesleyan College professor stepped into the fray, daring to stand firmly behind the hug-happy, 6-foot-tall dinosaur.
Kathy Merlock Jackson, an associate professor of communications, delivered a paper titled ``Barney: Love Him or Hate Him?'' at a popular-culture conference in Chicago. She took the ``love'' side, defending not just the PBS show, but also the lovey-dovey theme song and even Barney's almost nonstop giggle.
``I think `Barney' is good for children,'' Jackson said in an interview last week. ``. . . It's multicultural, it's nonsexist, it does not promote violence, it emphasizes a child's self-esteem - yet it is the object of criticism.''
Her essay (written, appropriately enough, on purple paper) was based on the findings of other professors - including two studies at Yale University, the hotbed of ``Barney'' research - and Jackson's interviews with Virginia Beach youngsters.
Jackson said her 5-year-old son, Nicholas, watches the show sometimes, but isn't emotionally attached to the dinosaur. She's the big fan.
``What Barney provides,'' Jackson said, ``is sort of an uncle figure - someone who's around on a regular basis and offers unconditional love and acceptance.'' That's especially important these says, she said, when extended families are breaking up.
``Barney takes what Mister Rogers does one step further. Mister Rogers tells children he is their friend. Barney tells children he loves them,'' she said, segueing into the famous opening lines of the theme song: ``I love you, you love me. . . ''
The show promotes the use of imagination, Jackson said, but the Yale studies also cite academic gains in regular viewers: improvement in ``number skills, knowledge of colors and shapes, vocabulary, neighborhood locations, good manners, nature and health.''
And there's more good stuff.
Because the show takes place on a playground or in a classroom, Jackson said, ``it shows school is a fun place.'' And kids can relate to the cast, which isn't made up of rail-thin, Hollywood-glamorous children.
``They look like a group of kids you'd encounter in a playground,'' Jackson said. ``One might be overweight, another might wear glasses. They're not all beauties.''
Even that goofy laugh is OK: ``It provides a sense of familiarity. Children find that repetition comforting.''
But there's been an ugly Barney backlash. Barney look-alikes get beaten up. Grade-school kids sing mock themes talking about hating and killing Barney. Internet lines for bigger boys and girls bubble over with Barney-bashing.
Jackson isn't too surprised. Whatever is popular always ends up getting trashed.
Youngsters past preschool think the kid characters on the show are ``just not cool,'' so they dump on Barney. Adults might be miffed because, unlike ``Sesame Street,'' ``Barney'' has no in-jokes or famous guests that appeal to them.
``It's obviously very infantile,'' Jackson said. `` `Barney' is not designed for adults; it really is a show for children.''
But that, she said, may contribute to its only flaw: ``It's not attractive to parents or to other adults, so they tend not to watch the show with children and don't reinforce the messages in the show.''
Even so, Jackson considers ``Barney'' not just good, but almost revolutionary for its refusal to include the violence of kids' cartoons shows or the fast-paced scene-switching of ``Sesame Street.''
``It just goes against so many stereotypes; . . . it's a very positive sign for people wanting to produce quality shows for children,'' she said.
by CNB