Who Killed Imagination?

When I was a little girl, Saturday and Sunday were the best days of the week. Not for the same reasons they still are today, now it's more about days of from work or going for a booze cruise - but because it included the best tv shows. I would wake up at 8am, take my blanket to the living room, open telly and watch tv until the boring adult programs started. I would go outside to play in the sun with my friends Anne and Terhi. Later on these mornings would include another set of cold feet as my little brother would climb up to the other side of the couch and watch tv with me.

During the week. It was all about Moomin. (MUUMI!) I lived and breathed in their world. There just wasn't anything better than watching the Moomins. I was very upset after missing one episode, I remember, vaguely, getting enraged after missing one episode. My daddy would save the day by saying: "I'll call the tv company and they'll repeat the episode!" Of course they didn't but in my eyes - problem was solved.

I came across some old tv shows tonight. There was this Clown "Pelle Hermanni".. who was a goofy clown, who lived in a circus and accidents happen to him. Funny incidents :) I loved him. I remember my sister being a big fan of Alfred J. Kwak and Dr. Sykerö (Tohtori Sykerö). She also loved Peukaloinen. Story about a boy who flew with the ducks across the skies. My little brother loved Vili Vilperi (Blinky Bill in English). He lived in the era of Pokemon - Saturday at 10am - new Pokemon episode was on.

Me, my sister and little brother all loved Rölli. I think Liisa loved him the most as she was very young when the first Rölli aired. I know these shows don't tell a lot for those who don't live in Finland. But what I'm trying to say, we all had those shows. Those shows we LOVED. Now what kids are getting from tv - is rubbish. It's nonsense.

Other great thing about being a kid was my mum reading books to me. She read and read all kinds of books to me. And then we would draw. One of my earliest memories is about me, my mum and my sister being in the kitchen and she would start reading about "Veljeni Leijonamieli" (The Brothers Lionheart) to us. There is this final chapter, when the boys older brother dies - and I cried. I cried and cried. My sister, even as a teen, read me books sometimes. She didn't do this often but sometimes ... I was allowed to enter her room and lie on her bed and she would read to me.

I miss that.

I miss that children would use their imagination. Honestly, kids suffer from the lack of imagination. When I work in the kindergarten - I have noticed some kids don't know how to play. They don't know how to be by themselves but us adults need to make up something for them to DO. I blame parents for this. Read for your kids, show them tv shows with colors and meaning. Nourish and cherish the years when your kids demand the most. Kids, feed from events around them. The feed from tv, from books, from everyday life and from everything around them. They'll grow up healthier, they'll learn languges faster, they'll get friends easier ... Don't ignore the power of imagination. 


Here is a glimpse what kids today get from the Sunday mornings:

There. What do we have...

We have computer animated shit. I'm sorry but it's true. There are two channels that air programs for kids and out of 11 programs. Three are what I would allow my own kids to watch. What an earth happened? When did we stopped caring of what is shown on the tv? I know my nephew is smart enough to log on to youtube and watch videos of tractors and other machines and he is only five. Our kids are not STUPID. These idiotic shows make them stupid. I grew up with Ansa and Oiva not with Braz teens.

WHAT IS GOING ON? Who is responsible of this, showing kids this garbage?

I wish that kids were still allowed to be kids. When I was on the 6th grade, me and my friends went sledding. When ever it was possible. We would go sledding. Then we would come in to Emilia's home, wear only our pajamas as all our clothes were wet and drink coco. We would go up to Emilias room and plan what we were going to do tomorrow. Now, it's about going to Facebook or who hooked up with whom. I'm not saying we need to go back in time but we need to go back in time just enough so we would remember how it was like to be kids. How was it when your mum read you books or what was your favorite thing to do on the Saturday morning. We need have stuff on tv that is not put there for 25min to entertain our kids so we can have a nice lunch with the hubby. Please please pay attention what that show is like. It's ... bad for your child.

It's not okay that kids these days don't have any imagination. It's unfair that we, adults, took that away from them. It breaks my heart when my teens at work tell me how fun it is to draw or cook. "I haven't drawn in years. Last time was three years ago.". "I don't remember when was the last time I painted?" They are only 15 years old and don't know how to make something up. The artist in me is very sad, but the little Jenni in me - who got to grow up in the world of books, art and wonder is very thankful. I'm happy that I had TV shows made with imagination, I had mum and sister to read me books and I had my friends to play with outside the house.

I think, that the Neverending story is about to happen. As children and adults have stopped believing in wonder and don't have imagination anymore. Nothing is about to get us. Imagination is doomed. 






Jenni