The resurgence of interest in Fred Rogers, which began last year with the 50th anniversary of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” along with the terrific documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” continues with the release of “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Tom Hanks as Rogers, last week. Finally, emulating Mr. Rogers, I ask students to write about the one person who has helped them the most along the way in their lives for one minute. Rogers’ Neighborhood” would never be put on television today, and the response is unanimous: children do not have attention spans to patiently watch a slow-paced show, especially with too many other high-energy options. This leads naturally to the decency project I have students work on for six months, an ungraded exploration of who they are as helpers.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 27, 2019 22:07 UTC