Mr. Rogers Neighborhood is the greatest kids show that ever was. That’s right, I said Mr. Rogers. Why? Because the man was way ahead of his time. He taught kids that their value is not based on anything else but on who they are as individuals. This was the mans message throughout his whole career. It’s a message that not only applied to little kids but to everyone who shapes their image based on what OTHER PEOPLE think of them rather than on what they think of themselves. Out of all the e mails I get from troubled teens, I would say a good 90% of the problems could be solved by understanding the message this man tries to get across to little kids.
That message can be summarized in one of the songs he made up for his show: It goes like this:
“It’s you I like, it’s not the things you wear. It’s not the way you do your hair, but it’s you I like. The way you are right now, the way down deep inside of you. It’s you I like. And I hope you’ll always remember, even when you’re feeling blue, it’s you, it’s you, it’s you I like.”
Kids stuff, right? Well, I don’t think so. How many teenagers can actually say this to themselves and really mean it? Can you?
Let’s do a little link thing here. Let’s link Mr. Rogers to this next item:
Unfortunately the number of teenagers having babies in this country is on the rise again. What does Mr. Rogers have to do with this? In previous articles I’ve talked about how teenagers get USED by their partner when they have sex (see my website choicesforteens.com: “Why Teens Have Sex.”). When somebody says they “love you and want to have sex with you,” it’s not because they are committed to you as a person unless of course you’re married. If you think otherwise, you’re living in Fantasy Land. Mr. Rogers helps me make this point very clear. How? Well, how many people who sexually USE OTHERS can say the words in Mr. Rogers song to the person they’re using and really mean it?
“It’s you I like, It’s not the way you do your hair, it’s not the things you wear, but it’s you I like. The way you are right now, the way down deep inside of you. It’s you, it’s you, it’s YOU I really like.”
If your partner could say these words to you and really mean it, he or she would NOT see a need to use you sexually and put you in a position of hurting yourself or others. If more teenagers realized this, teenager pregnancy and the number of sexually transmitted diseases would be a WHOLE lot lower.
How about you? Do you believe the person you are dating right now can say those words to you and really mean it? I sure hope so.
Mr. Rogers may be just a kid’s show, but his message is all grown up.
Dan Celentano has worked with a variety of at risk kids for close to
30 years. He is author of a book for teenagers entitled
Ten Essential Facts of Life Every Teenager Should
Know ( see www.teenage-book.com ), and gives advice to teenagers
on his web site www.choicesforteens.com In addition to this, Mr.
Celentano speaks to high school students on various issues having to
do with teenagers. Currently Dan is preparing for his next project
which is working with blind children on his ranch.
Dan Celentano is available for freelance writing and can be contacted
at ranch@copper.net.
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