One of the most popular shows on the Disney Channel right now is a cartoon called Phineas and Ferb. In fact it is one of the most popular shows on any channel aimed at kids. Being both a dad and active observer/participant in kid’s culture, I have watched this show with my kids dozens of times (OK I have watched it a couple of times without them!).

So I got to thinking, what can we as kidmins learn from this show that is not a Christian show, but could possibly give us some pretty amazing insights into how to reach/teach kids. So here are some of my observations.

• Random humor is the mode of humor of choice. The entire show is a randomly connected series of events and characters who often are unaware of each other’s existence, yet their actions have a tremendous effect on each other. Think Seinfeld for kids! So when working humor into your lessons, interactions and multi-media venues, remember kids have a very random and ironic sense of humor. Their humor can at the same time be much more sophisticated than ours was at their age, and yet still be very immature, resorting to toilet humor. Phineas and Ferb manages to stay above the potty humor fray and yet still be very, very funny.
• Some shows designed for kids are painful to watch as an adult. Either they are too brainless, to immature, too poorly done or a combination of all three. Phineas and Ferb is a show that lots of parents sit down with their kids, laugh at the ironic jokes and actually have quality family time together. While they would never admit it, studies have shown that the show holds its own with middle schoolers and high schoolers as well. Undoubtedly there are adults involved in your services and classes for kids. Can you craft your lessons, media presentations and learning environments so the adults and even teen helpers can enjoy and learn while they are there?
• Phineas and Ferb are smart, like science, get along with each other and lots of other kids, are kind, helpful and respect adults. They are almost alone in these character attributes among the other stars of Disney channel, yet their show is a hit and parents feel like its OK if their kids watch the show and imitate these two industrious boys. This is a pattern Pixar has always followed, creating positive role models in their films. There may be a decidedly lacking amount of good role-models in today’s media and culture, but maybe the church can be the exception. In both real life and in our stories and make believe, our kids need good role models. The trend has been to be “real” with kids, showing them that there are no true good guys, only imperfect heroes. While there is some truth to this, we may have taught our kids to “aim low” in the area of character and Christlikeness. In the end we point them to Christ as the ultimate role model.
• The true foil for Phineas and Ferb is their teenage sister, Candace, who they still show an amazing amount of kindness and patience with. Beyond the good example they show here, the concept of the annoying teenager who is a little strange in the eyes of the kids is a departure from other kids shows, where the stars are all essentially teenagers (or animals). In the end kids are interested in teenagers, but I think we make a mistake when we assume they are little teenagers. They are different than teens and want to be treated like kids. Certainly kids need to have issues addressed that were never brought up with children a generation ago, but still I believe we make a mistake when we normalize the loss of innocence in our kids that so much of the rest of our culture does. We need to let kids be kids, to allow them to be innocent for an age and to encourage them to pursue childlike dreams and hopes. Too often they are thrust into the world of fashion, dating, and popularity by our culture and even their families. Yet the popularity of Phineas and Ferb shows that kids still crave to be innocent kids.
• Phineas and Ferb is a bit of throwback animation. It is not horrible, but it is not the best out there. It seems to me that that the creators have put more emphasis on content and story, and slightly less on image and presentation. My kids comment that most of the characters on Phineas and Ferb are essentially a grouping of triangles. Yet they still make kids laugh, imagine, play, dream and repeat their lines over and over. How could that be, if animation isn’t cutting edge? In the end what we teach is intensely more important than how we teach it. Sadly, so many of us have worked so hard on polishing the image of our ministry, lessons and so little on what God is wanting to communicate and who He is trying to communicate it to.

I am sure that there are more pointers any of you could gleen from the wisdom of these two young boys and their family’s adventures. It is always a good practice when observing popular kids’ culture to ask God to give you insights into the hearts and lives of the children in your ministry.