Caillou

"Caillou" is one of only two PBS for Kids programs who's appeal is totally lost on me...and my children don't like it either. Part of it is the vocal characterization of Caillou-who's whiney little voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Couple this with insipid dialogue and sickly-sweet plotlines and you've got a show that, despite it's intent, few kids will want to sit through, let alone learn from.

While my 3-year-old seems to enjoy this show, I think it may be very bad for him to watch.

Among the many problems I have is the child character's constant bad behavior, mostly his complete lack of manners, I have yet to hear a Thank you or please (often it is "I want").. this could be a cultural difference with the French.

The episode in which he gets scared of monsters at night, rather than helping my son; inspired him to become scared of monsters (he never thought of monsters being in his room until he saw this show).

I often see many safety issues brought up in the show, in one episode Daddy leave a newborn baby (Rossie) unattended on a change table.

The "world view" of the show is too politically correct and homogeneous to the point of encouraging conformity in children. In fact I find the nonwhite characters to be portrayed ina very disturping way, bordering on racism... the Chinese family eats only Chinese food, visits China on vacation, has a house decorated in Chinese decor.. in fact every part of their life we see is completely enshrined in Chinese culture; as if they have no identity other than being Chinese. In another episode a Mexican family has a birthday party, and of course it is a fiesta! I hate children's shows that only define multicultural people/families by their race/nationality as if that's ALL that defines them; it is an ignorant view of our world.

Seriously?! This show has a freaking terrible influence on kids. My niece was obsessed with this show and would throw tantrums and act out if you didn't put it on for her. She would act like Caillou all the time and be a brat and whine a lot. Even with her parents putting her on timeouts and giving appropriate punishments she would still act out every time she watched the show. When we had her watching other shows she never acted that way. I watched the show myself (several excruciating episodes) and I found it to have very bad influential instances, and it was often "silently" racist... I can't believe they ever aired this show on PBS... If I could give this show a zero rating I would... Whoever wrote/created this show must be clueless about parenting among many other things. I can see from reading the other reviews that a lot of people noticed the same things I did, so why didn't the people screening the show notice all of this terrible crap and halt the production? Freaking garbage show, man...

At first, I thought Caillou was great. While I prepared dinner, it kept my daughter occupied. My suggestion to all parents, give them something else to do! My daughter, who is now 2 1/2, has watched Caillou since she was about one. Now, she has been imitating his poor behavior! i could not figure it out! The two girls she plays with are very well behaved. And finally, one day after her swimming lesson, I allowed her to watch him as I prepared lunch. During the episode, Caillou's parents were having a dinner party. Caillou and his sister were to go to bed (as Caillou's parents hired a babysitter to do this! UNBELIEVABLE!) Not sure about the rest of you, but my husband and I do not hire a sitter, when it's time for our child to go to bed! Caillou carried on screaming with his annoying whine, "I don't want to!" Guess what-my daughter will not stop saying "I don't want to!" Well that is the end of that! Caillou is no longer allowed in our home! When my daughter asks, I keep telling her that Caillou is a very bad boy, and she is no longer allowed to watch him! SHAME ON YOU PBS! With such wonderful educational shows created in the past, I would have never dreamed to have to monitor your shows! I was wrong! SEX AND THE CITY teaches better manners!

I hate to sound so harsh, but it must be said that Caillou has had one of the worst influences on children I have ever seen. Caillou is a 4 year old bald child who is very spoiled by his parents. They spoil him so much, that when they tell him to wait, he breaks out into a tantrum and begins to cry and scream "I want this now!" Honestly, this is something you would expect from a 2 year old child. The parents don't ever get mad at him nor do they teach any good manners. Instead they give him what he wants almost like a reward and he yells "Yay!", then plays like a little baby.He also has a baby sister Rosie, who is pretty bratty too, but she is little so I can understand. The 2 dimensional cartoon's animation is very, very bad. Pictures are drawn sloppily and appears very fake.

Let me close with this as proof that this show is a bad influence. I have a 4 year old brother. Like most 2 year old, he used to break out into tantrums. Then he began to watch Caillou. The only thing that he has matured in his speech. He still has temper tantrums and is a crybaby for a child his age. I recommend this to a to-be parent that wants to know how NOT to raise a child. As far as children go, don't let them watch this. You'll have a brat on your hands in the near future. Put on The Wiggles.