The “Arthur Interactive Media” (More commonly referred to as the “AIM Buddy Project”) was a program launched by the WGBH Educational Foundation with developmental help by the american health company, Tufs’ Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development department, with financial support by the John Templeton foundation in 2015. The program’s collective goal was to promote social, emotional, and character development among elementary school children with the intention of combating bullying. Some Arthur episodes were used as a basis for the program, more famously “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh”,“Dear Adil” & “Buster’s Growing Grudge.” The purpose of using the episodes was mainly to draw attention to the character’s feelings and emotions as a result to another’s to which children would apply to their own social life at school. The program’s online resources were available for use on the Arthur PBS Kids website. Further development of the program ended by 2018.
Original Poll
RESEARCH STUDY & DEVELOPMENT:[]
Executive producer of the Arthur television show, Carol Greenwald, approached Dr. Richard Lerner; director of the youth development research department at Tufts with intentions of finding supported evidence of the show being effective in its goals of teaching social and emotional issues to kids.[1] Lerner approved of the idea of studying whether “Arthur could be used to enhance positive youth development among its viewers.”
Teacher lecturing older kids AIM
In preparation and promotion of the AIM project, the research team at Tufs trained participating Massachusetts state teachers in the U.S. to properly follow the curriculum. Kids of varying ages were previously given a poll on how they treat their own feelings and if they saw the original Arthur show and books to assist in finding what age group the program would work best in.[2] The older kids participating in the study were trained about how they could discuss the themes with younger buddies who will take part in the program. Research and pilot testing of AIM’s program materials and evaluation tool reportedly took two years. Development had begun as early as 2012 with the production of the season 16 Arthur episode, “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh,” which focused on how sometimes, kids may not comprehend how what they say or do can affect another—what the program was fundamentally trying to communicate to kids. Preliminary analysis of the data for kids who took part in the program has reportedly shown researchers that “kids do, in fact, seem to be learning from Arthur.”
INTERACTIVE MEDIA:[]
The AIM Buddy project’s curriculum was centered around interactive online comics or “games” (As it is commonly referred to) to teach children concepts based on emotion and what causes one person to have a certain one. These comics would be featured in the “Friends” page (Now removed) of the Arthur PBS Kids website and were meant to be seen by two elementary school aged children, one being older and one younger; also known as “cross-age mentoring.” The developers of the program found evidence that “cross-age mentorships suggests that the program will be of value to both mentors and mentees of our program.” The first interactive comic was launched in 2014.
List of Created Interactive Comics:[]
“So Funny Forgot to Laugh” (2014)
Based on the 2012 Arthur episode of the same name, “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh” was the basis of the pilot program that was tested around schools in the U.S. state, Massachusetts in 2014. The comic specifically focused simplistically on bullying and it’s emotional impact. The comic was a retelling of the original episode but with a narrator emphasizing details in the story and asking the viewers questions based on Arthur and Sue Ellen’s feelings and actions. Occasionally there will be a part in the comic where the viewer can click on what the characters are thinking in their mind and draw conclusions based on it.
Read More about the interactive comic here.
“Buster’s Growing Grudge” (2015)
Based on the 1998 Arthur episode of the same name, “Buster’s Growing Grudge” was one of the comics created in response to the success of “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh,” this interactive comic however looked more like a traditional comic and functioned similar to it’s predecessor. The comic also focused exclusively on forgiveness and holding grudges like the original episode but the comic put more of an emphasis on feelings. Towards the end of the comic, there are options the viewer can pick on what Buster can do to manage his feelings about Binky using his joke.
Read More about the interactive comic here.
“Dear Adil” (2016)
Based on the 2003 Arthur episode of the same name, “Dear Adil” was also one of the comics created in response to the success of “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh.” It functioned similarly to the last with the exception of it being about miscommunications and learning about people who are different from you the correct way. There is a part in the comic where the viewer can pick which email to send to Adil and see how each specific one makes him feel.
Read More about the interactive comic here.
“Francine’s Tough Day” (2015)
Unlike the previously released interactive comics, “Francine’s Tough Day” is an original story and is not based on an Arthur episode. It is also the first to incorporate small game-like elements. The comic focuses on honesty and the impact of telling lies (big and small) in different scenarios. The interactive was edited according to the results of prototype tests done with kids.
Read More about the interactive comic here.
Other:[]
Trivia:[]
- AIM became inactive in 2017, with all of it’s resources being made available on PBS’ Learning Media website.
- In 2023, the “friends” page on the Arthur PBS Kids website was removed with all of the AIM comics and game being moved to the “games” page.
- Changes in children’s understanding of the topics discussed in the AIM interactives increased by 20% by 2017 (Originally 6% in 2015).