Bob Keeshan (1927 – 2004)
Better known as Captain Kangaroo, was a United States television personality and childrens' advocate.
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Keeshan made no secret of his distate for most TV shows ... Keeshan argued that violent cartoons and the crime dramas that kids could easily see were no more reflective of reality than his beloved Treasure House.
We have respect for our audience. ... We operate on the conviction that it is composed of young children of potentially good taste, and that this taste should be developed.
The children should never be excluded from what I am doing and should never have the feeling of being part of an audience.
Children don't drop out of high school when they are 16, they do so in the first grade and wait 10 years to make it official.
The responsibility of parents is to raise children who do not need parents.
It is my contention that most people are not mugged every day, that most people in this world do not encounter violence every day. I think we prepare people for violence, and I think it just as important that we prepare people for the definition of being gentle. ... for so many years gentle has been equated with weakness but it requires more strength to be gentle. So it's the every day encounters of life that I think we prepare children for and prepare them to be good to other people and to consider other people.
Back in the old days, when I was a child, we sat around the family table at dinner time and exchanged our daily experiences.... It wasn't very organized, but everyone was recognized and all the news that had to be told was told by each family member. We listened to each other and the interest was not put on; it was real. ... A child needs to be listened to and talked to at 3 and 4 and 5 years of age ... Parents should not wait for the sophisticated conversation of a teenager.
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