Why Mister Rogers Always Said, “I Am Feeding The Fish” Out Loud.

By Anthony K

When you hear about “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” what comes to mind? The TV personality Mr. Rogers was well known for the children’s program, which premiered in 1963 in Canada. He was a man who sorted to include all children from all walks of life, more so the visually impaired. This was one of the reasons many children would enjoy the many simple learning from his show.

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As a kid, any fan of Mr. Rogers’s show might vividly recall that every time he was feeding the fish in his episodes, he would say it loud as he scattered some food into the fish tank. It awed everyone when they found out the actual reason why he was saying it out loud every time he fed the fish.

It happens that Mr.Rogers received a letter from one little Katie, aged 5, requesting him always to say it out loud when he fed the fish. This is mainly because the young girl couldn’t see him feed them as she was visually impaired, and this left her concerned about the fish being hungry. The father also added a note to let him know that Katie cried if he ever forgot to say he fed the fish aloud. If this was not the more sweet, caring, and inclusive way for all, I do not know what is!

It goes without saying that Mister Rogers’s teachings to the children were creative, thoughtful, non-discriminative, and most importantly, taught them to be always kind to their neighbors.

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Such stories show how unprecedented his approach to passing the positive message to kids was. Mr. Roger’s approach impacted not only Katie’s life but also other children who would find themselves in difficult situations.