Arthur is a horror-comedy about Restorative Justice
Channel: What'sBehindTheSky
Date: 2022-06-20

Arthur, 25-year veteran PBS Kids show, aired its last new episode earlier this year, so let's talk about it! What was Arthur trying to teach us?

Thanks to my Patreon supporters, Melissa Daston, Alexis Simonow, and Gina Tharin

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Books cited in this video:
Changing Lenses by Howard Zehr

Web sources cited in this video:
Social-emotional development on Arthur https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/arthur/t/social-and-emotional-development/
Gay wedding episode banned in Alabama https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48350023
Arthur's Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthurpbs?lang=en

CW: police violence, child physical/emotional abuse
Kid handcuffed in school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72vu6nxZX58
11-year-old assaulted by police officer: https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/24/20929397/police-officer-excessive-force-school-11-year-old-girl-new-mexico
Corporal punishment legal in 19 states: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/teachers-in-19-states-allowed-to-physically-punish-students
Isolation rooms in Illinois: https://features.propublica.org/illinois-seclusion-rooms/school-students-put-in-isolated-timeouts/
Jail for not doing homework: https://www.propublica.org/article/a-teenager-didnt-do-her-online-schoolwork-so-a-judge-sent-her-to-juvenile-detention/ 
Fundamentalist Christian view of punishment: https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/ministry-of-violence

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
9:43 Arthur's Lost Library Book
18:11 TikTok break 1
18:55 Restorative justice primer
26:38 TikTok break 2
27:53 Nerves of Steal
36:30 Conclusion

Hi! I'm Char. I make video essays about media criticism, politics, literature, and queerness. Let's take some crazy cultural objects and figure out what they mean.