Mister Rogers & Love

It’s Valentine’s Week! And in honor of the holiday that celebrates love for a whole 24 hours, we want to commemorate a man who shaped multiple generations’ understanding of the idea, Fred Rogers.

Most of us are familiar with Mister Rogers’ red sweater and toy trolley, but it wasn’t until the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor was released in 2018 that I really understood his massive, breathtaking impact on children and our culture at large. Troubled by the overstimulating and mindless media catered toward children in the 1960s, Fred Rogers set out to offer something different to families. 

And that he did. His program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ran for 33 years and he used his platform to discuss pertinent social issues and make children feel seen and known through a television screen. His demeanor was meek and unhurried, and as I watched a montage of interactions he shared with his viewers, I was so incredibly moved. 

Fred Rogers was marked by his immense capacity to love and reminds us still today that we all have the power to offer love in meaningful ways. He demonstrated that by placing value on children, specifically, we create secure environments for them to flourish.