Disney's Doc McStuffins family to adopt a new baby!
When we were kids, telly was often maligned by our parents as “brain rot” or worse, the bearer of “square eyes” (which we’ve since learned is a load of tosh – all those Netflix boxsets later and our eyes are resolutely round!) And while we believe that yes, TV should be enjoyed in moderation, there’s no denying it can be a valuable tool in developing our children’s emotional intelligence.
Children’s shows can bring a breadth of understanding to our kids about various issues in a fun, non-threatening way – for example, with Sesame’s Street’s introduction of its first ever autistic character, Julia.
And now popular Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins, created for the 2-7 age range, is set to tackle adoption.
This spring the McStuffins family are adopting a baby, which will be treated sensitively in a series of episodes following the adoption journey – from the announcement, to bringing the baby home, to the emotions and insecurities kids feel when there’s a new baby in the house.
“Children's shows can have a significant impact on how their young viewers understand the world, so it’s wonderful that Disney Junior is depicting adoption as a normative, positive way to form a family,” said Adam Pertman, president and founder of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency and consultant on the episodes.
“Even more than that, it's heartening that the producers sought professional input in order to 'get it right' about the language, people and sensitivities involved.”
We think it’s brilliant that the show understands the social responsibility it has to the young, impressionable children who watch it. We'll definitely be tuning in with our rugrats!
Bravo Doc McStuffins.