A SMALL child is allowed as much TV and tablet time as they like if they are watching an iconic BAFTA or Emmy-winning drama.
Caden’s, not his real name, middle-class parents introduced the rule after noticing that content made for children lacked the challenging themes and overarching storylines that would set their child apart from the herd.
Mum Inge, not her real name, said: “The advice is to limit how many cartoons children watch in a day, but they didn’t say anything about acclaimed live-action series such as Succession.
“Shows like Bluey and Paw Patrol are just empty calories. To truly appreciate television as an art form he needs to see the greatest series of the last 20 years – The Wire, The West Wing, Mad Men. Don’t worry, we’ll circle back to Edge of Darkness and The Singing Detective.
“It’s slow-going, as he often doesn’t have the attention span to sit through the hour-long episodes, but so far he’s watched all of Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. I’ve promised him that if he’s good he can watch 3 Body Problem next.”
Caden, three, is now becoming an expert on key dramatic principles such as foreshadowing and making characters morally ambiguous rather than two-dimensional.
He said: “Tony Soprano is a bad man but he likes ducks. That means me hitting my sister is fine because I like our neighbour’s dog.”