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Originally Posted by wnker85
I beleive that it is the Children's tv shows that are the downfall. The Telatubbies was the worst thing to happen to children's TV, and the beging of the end. There is nothing there at all. And now there is some other thing with gum drops that light up and bounce around. No one wants to teach there children anything.
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Now I don't want to defend Teletubbies and Boo Bah too much, since I firmly believe that they are inherently evil, but if you look at the PBS website you'll notice that they are designed for preschool kids and younger. Now I don't know much about child psychology, but I do know that if you're expecting your kids to learn about science at that age, you've got another think coming. From what I've heard from psych majors and educators around me, at that age the brain is stimulated positively by bright colors, movement and sound. It's kinda like those Fisher Price toys that go in playpens.
While I do agree that children's educational television is not what it used to be, there are still some positive influences out there. In addition to the aforementioned discovery chanel, there is a great show on PBS called Between the Lions that reminds me a lot of Reading Rainbow. Different books and cultures are explored and there is even a vocabulary emphasis that teaches kids new words. Games like Cranium are also a great influence for getting young kids excited about learning and thinking.
I think that in order to combat apathy, parents simply need to become more involved in their kids lives. While television may have been a great influence on those of us who watched educational programming, I also know many people my age, twenty-three, who's brains rotted long ago because their parents simply left them in front of the TV too long. Remember, Yugi-Oh was once He-Man, TMNT and the Simpsons and wrestling has been popular since the eighties too. Parents need to help teachers out by stimulating their children's minds at home.