Parenting in the 22nd Century

Joshua Ingram
Nov 6 · 2 min read

Alright y’all, quick DAD storytime. :D

My kids are VERY into Anime/Manga and they’re constantly wanting to talk to me about the characters and the storytelling in their favorite shows. To be completely honest, the only experience I have with this genre is from when I watched Initial D back in high school and a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z.

So fast forward to yesterday. My daughter has been pushing me to watch My Hero Academia with her so that’s first on my list. I load the first few episodes and something AMAZING happens. I’m not drudging through just so I can have a conversation with my daughter, I’m genuinely interested in the show.

My Social Work education really taught me a lot about different cultures, but seeing, and then contemplating, the difference between storylines in Japanese cartoons and an American cartoons was pretty mind blowing for me. The values being expressed in this show (service to others, being heroic even when you’re scared, thinking differently than the crowd, resisting peer pressure, etc) are all universal things that we want to teach our children.

My advice to parents… genuinely sit down and watch/listen to the things your kiddos are interested in and talk with them. Discuss the themes of the show, which characters they identify with, etc. It will give you a much better understanding about where your kids are developmentally and what kind of support they need from you to be successful.

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