Slower, Retro-Style Children's TV Is Better for Toddlers Than Fast-Paced Modern Shows, and the Media Industry—Not Just Parents—Should Be Responsible for This
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/natalie-morris. "Play School is back – and with it the promise of TV I’m actually happy for my toddler to watch | Natalie Morris | The Guardian." September 28, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that returning to slower, gentler children's shows like the revived Play School is a relief compared to today's fast, flashy, attention-grabbing shows, which may harm toddlers' developing attention spans. She argues that instead of putting all the pressure on individual parents to make the 'right' media choices, media companies and policymakers should take responsibility for making children's content less addictive and more developmentally healthy.
Conclusion
The return of slower-paced, calmer children's programming like Play School is welcome and preferable to fast-paced modern shows, and responsibility for ensuring children's media is developmentally appropriate should not fall solely on individual parents but on the media industry and policymakers.
Premises
- Modern children's shows like Cocomelon, PAW Patrol, and Blippi use choppy editing, vivid colours, and repetitive soundtracks designed to maximize attention-grabbing, similar to how adult-targeted apps and social media capture attention.
- Studies suggest fast-paced cartoons can negatively impact young children's attention spans and executive function (self-regulation, memory).
- Quality/pacing of content matters more than just the duration of screen time, since two children watching the same amount of TV can have very different experiences depending on content quality.
- Older, slower-paced shows (from the 90s and earlier) allow children to complete an 'act of attention' rather than being repeatedly interrupted, per expert commentary (Natalia Kucirkova).
- Parents are already overburdened by modern parenting pressures (time, cost, judgment) and are increasingly expected to make complex media-quality judgments on top of everything else.
- Media companies are devoting increasing resources to capturing children's attention using addictive design principles similar to those affecting adults, creating an unequal battle for parents to manage alone.
- Government guidance on screen time has focused on quantity (time limits) rather than quality of content, missing what may be the more important factor.
Assumptions
- That slower pacing and 'calmer' content is inherently better for toddler cognitive development, based on limited or informally referenced studies.
- That the author's brief, informal observations of shows like Cocomelon and Blippi are representative of those shows as a whole.
- That nostalgia-based content (90s shows) is developmentally comparable to genuinely new 'slow TV' content just because it shares pacing characteristics with Play School.
- That the media industry can and should be regulated or held responsible for content design, rather than this being solely a matter of parental choice.
- That parents' current screen-time struggles are primarily due to systemic pressures (childcare costs, work demands) rather than individual choices.