The addition of a new sibling is a critical turning point in the life of a child. Parents use many strategies to prepare their young ones for the changes that will result from the addition of a new member to the family. These strategies may include reading books or watching television programs or movies. Recently, two popular children’s television programs have explored this topic.
In 2014, the second season of the PBS children’s program Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood premiered with an hour long special the centered around the birth of a new baby sister for the main character, Daniel Tiger. Subsequent episodes focused on how life in the Tiger family changed after bringing home the baby.
In 2016, the Disney Junior children’s program Doc McStuffins featured a five-episode story arch focused on the adoption of a new sibling for the main character, Doc and her brother, Donnie.
While the representation of pregnancy and childbirth on television has been studied in the past in various genres, such as reality television, and sitcoms (for instance I Love Lucy and Murphy Brown), it has not been sufficiently examined in children’s television. While the specific design of these episodes is to help children understand life with a new sibling, there are more subtle lessons being taught and learned as well, regarding pregnancy, motherhood, fatherhood and family.
This paper explores both these direct lessons and the more indirect messages that children may learn from these programs. While the main focus of this study is on these two most current examples, past examples from other children’s programs are also reviewed, for comparative purposes.
About the presenterAmy Franzini
Amy Richards Franzini is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Widener University in Chester, PA. She received both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Mass Media and Communications from Temple University. Dr. Franzini studies the representations of children, childhood, parents and parenting in popular media. Dr. Franzini has chapters published in the books, Common Sense: Intelligence as Presented on Popular Television (2008) and Fleeting Images:Portrayals of Children in Popular Culture (2012).