Fred Rogers's death: it's a sad world
As you may already know, Fred Rogers (TV’s Mr. Rogers) died last night. Having visited Mr. Rogers’ TV neighborhood many times as a child, the news of his death made me sad.
Looking for material to read about Mr. Rogers’ life, I ran into an letter to parents and teachers from Family Communications, the company that produced Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. In it, they offer advice on how to talk to children about Mr. Rogers’ passing, and it includes the following statement:
Find out what your child knows, has heard, or imagines. Some children may ask, “Who killed him?” Killings are so prominent in the news that they may naturally become linked to any death.
What a sad world we live in, where we can expect children to consider murder the leading cause of death. It seems that television—this tool that Fred Rogers fought so hard to use for the benefit of children—is turning our kids (and us) into callous, empty monsters. Whoever would want to kill Mr. Rogers?
It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive.
It’s such a happy feeling: You’re growing inside.
And when you wake up ready to say,
“I think I’ll make a snappy new day.”
It’s such a good feeling, a very good feeling,
The feeling you know that we’re friends.
