May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications

now mr. Rogers is certainly one of the best things that's ever happened to Public Television and his Peabody Award is testament to that fact we in Public Television are proud of Fred Rogers and I'm proud to present mr. Rogers to you now all right Rogers you got the full senator pest story this is a philosophical statement and would take about ten minutes to read so I'll not do that oh one of the first things that a child learns in a healthy family is trust and I trust what you have said that you will read this it's very important to me I care deeply about children my first children make you happy if you read it I just like to talk about it if I write my first children's program was on WQED fifteen years ago and its budget was $30 now with the help of the Sears Roebuck foundation and national educational television as well as all of the affiliated stations each station pays to show our program it's a unique kind of funding in educational television with this help now our program has a budget of six thousand dollars it may sound like quite a difference but six thousand dollars pays for less than two minutes of cartoons two minutes of animated what I sometimes say bombardment I'm very much concerned as I know you are about what's being delivered to our children in this country and I've worked in the field of child development for six years now trying to understand the inner needs of children we deal with such things as as the inner drama of childhood we don't have to bop somebody over the head to make him to make drama on the screen we deal with such things as getting a haircut or the feelings about brothers and sisters and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations and we speak to it constructively how long a program is it it's a half hour every day most channels schedule it in the noon time as well as in the evening of WETA here has scheduled it in the late afternoon could we get a copy of this so that we can see it maybe not today but I'd like to see the program I'd like very much for you like to see the program itself or any one of them yes a we we made a hundred programs for een the eastern educational network and then when the money ran out people in Boston and Pittsburgh and Chicago all came to the fore and said we've got to have more of this neighborhood expression of care and this is what this is what I give I give an expression of care every day to each child to help him realize that he is unique I end the program by saying you've made this day a special day by just your being you there's no person in the whole world like you and I like you just the way you are and I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable we will have done a great service for mental health I think that it's much more dramatic that two men could be working out their feelings of anger much more dramatic than showing something of gunfire I'm constantly concerned about what our children are seeing and for 15 years I have tried in this country and Canada to present what I feel is a meaningful expression of care do you and I read I'm the house yes and I do all the puppets and I write all the music and I write all the script I'm supposed to be a pretty tough guy and this the first time I've had goose bumps for the last two days well I'm grateful not only for your goose bumps but for your interest in in our kind of communication could I tell you the words of one of the songs which I feel is very important yes this has to do with that good feeling of control which I feel that the children need to know is there and it starts out what do you do with the mad that you feel and that first line came straight from a child I work with children doing puppets and in very personal communication with small groups what do you do with the mad that you feel when you feel so mad you could bite when the whole wide world seems oh so wrong and nothing you do seems very right what do you do do you punch a bag do you pound some clay or some dough do you round up friends for a game of tag or see how fast you go it's great to be able to stop when you've planned a thing that's wrong and be able to do something else instead and think this song I can stop when I want to can stop when I wish can stop stop stop anytime and what a good feeling to feel like this and know that the feeling is really mine know that there's something deep inside that helps us become what we can for a girl can be someday a lady and a boy can be someday a man I think it's wonderful I think it's wonderful looks like you just earned the 20 million dollars

Channel: danieldeibler

Views: 5,682,438

Keywords: Fred Rogers (TV Writer), Corporation For Public Broadcasting (Production Company), What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel? (Composition), Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (TV Program), United States Senate (Governmental Body)

Id: fKy7ljRr0AA

Length: 6min 51sec (411 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 08 2015