Something Upbeat - LazyTown - a Positive influence on Kids
I’ve been posting a lot of warnings-type posts * concerning the negative influences on children here in the USA and even abroad, along with the consequences these negative influences are having.
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Not your mother’s Girl Scouts
The Purity Myth: Virginity Hurts Young Women
1 in 4 Teen Girls Has Sexual Disease
Researchers suspect oral sex to blame for rise in tonsil cancer
But it appears that, of all places, Iceland has come up with what seems to be a positive influence on young children, particularly when it comes to eating healthy food, exercising and leading an active lifestyle.
It’s a program called LAZYTOWN.
The concept originated in the mind of a gymnastics champion, who serves as one of the programs protagonists.
Stephanie
Played by Julianna Rose Mauriello, Stephanie is the character who inspires the citizens (and most importantly, the children) of LazyTown to be active. Her love for being active and playing greatly influences the town. She loves the color pink; her clothes, hair, and accessories are all pink. She came to town to visit her uncle, the mayor of LazyTown. Stephanie is always encouraging the kids to go outside and play, but on each occasion she must contend with Robbie Rotten’s attempts to sabotage her efforts. But when she asked for Sportacus’ help, the whole town worked together to make LazyTown the best place to live. Stephanie loves to dance. She dreams of studying dance at a famous dance school
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Sportacus
Played by Magnús Scheving, Sportacus is the super-healthy hero of the show, hailing from “an island in the North Sea” (a reference to Iceland, LazyTown’s country of origin) and the main protagonist of the series. Sportacus encourages the kids of LazyTown to eat “sports candy” (his term for fruits and vegetables), and to play outside instead of just sitting around indoors playing video games or eating junk food. He wants to make sure LazyTown is happy, and knows that they have to be healthy and fit to be so. Sportacus is constantly engaged in physical activity, and even does gymnastics just to get from place to place. Sportacus is always saving people. His crystal beeps to let him know that someone needs his help. The character is patient and understanding. Sportacus doesn’t think of himself as a Superhero, but rather, a Slightly-Above-Average Hero. His weakness is that if he ever eats sugary candy, he will have a “sugar meltdown”, which makes him lose all of his energy until he eats something healthy again.
What a contrast, eh?
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* (Just to be clear, I am not claiming that I was the original poster of all those threads referred to, above, but have linked and referred to them.)
















