Sesame Street, bad for my child?

In today's world...

Published on January 18, 2008 By foreverserenity In Blogging

I was amazed to hear the news reporter quip "there's a warning about Sesame Street, it might not be good for your child", then went to commercial! Don't you just love it when they do that?! Then you hang on til they come back and read the story at the end of the next half hour!

It's not really the current episodes of Sesame Street that are bad for your children, it's the versions from 40 or so years ago. There are now Volumes I & II out on DVD that features story-lines, or skits that might not be suitable for your child to see because it might let them do or believe the wrong thing! So the producers have put a warning lable on them.

One of the scenes on the DVD is a stranger met little "Sally" (not the right name) on the road and took her home to meet his wife. While Sally did not go inside their house, she stayed outside, and the couple were very friendly and nice, then the wife invited Sally to come back to visit with them again. Do you see what's wrong with that picture? Yep, 'stranger danger" the warnings that we now give our children, back in 1969, that was not necessary to do! In today's world it is!

There is a scene of Cookie Monster gobbling up, quite greedily, some cookies; the children might get the wrong impression and think that being obsessed with sweet, sugary cookies is a good thing! In today's world it's not! Childhood obesity is a very big (pardon the pun) and ugly problem these days!

Oscar the Grouch is very depressed and quite angry in one scene. You remember how Oscar is right? The grouchy, curmudgeonly character that we used to get a laugh from because of his grumpy antics? Not cute and funny anymore! In today's world, Oscar is considered manic depressive and that is not a good thing for children to see! We don't want them to know that people do have good and bad days!

Back in the day, when my siblings and I used to sit down and watch with avid adoration those little muppets and puppets and people on that beloved show, we didn't worry about stuff like that! It wasn't necessary then, but it is now, in today's world!

It's a sad state of affairs indeed!"

Comments (Page 2)

KFC Kickin For Christ

on Jan 18, 2008

Just make sure it's a tickle me Elmo, not a tickle me EMO.

ya, ain't that the truth. I like happy Elmo much better. EMO is too depressing.

Jythier

on Jan 19, 2008

Irony: The people who complain about Oscar are just like him.

foreverserenity

on Jan 19, 2008

Oh I loved Speed Racer and 3-2-1 Contact and Reading Rainbow and Mr. Rogers! My kids came to enjoy Speed Racer and Reading Rainbow and Mr. Rogers too! 3-2-1 Contact doesn't show on television anymore. Anyone remember the Electric Company? There were some wonderful kids show back in the day!

I think our world has gotten too politically correct that we can't tell the difference between what's good for our children and what's not good for them. In fact, I think too many of us are listening to those idiots who can't tell the difference anymore. The fact that Cookie Monster could be the cause for child obesity? Yea right! That's what they talked about on the report! Someone mentoned parental responsibility? Yes, that's what it takes, parents being involved and not just giving in to the children, at least doing so within realistic goals.

Whip I would hate to think that Oscar couldn't be Oscar anymore! The reality of our world is that people aren't always happy. They whine and get angry and get depressed too, that's being human, we aren't all perfect and I guess the PC club has forgotten that!

The thing is what has our world come to that the producers have to put a warning lable on a children's DVD because they might get the wrong idea? Why can't our children just be children and enjoy being children? Sad state of affairs!

Dr Guy

on Jan 19, 2008

I am not surprised, but I am veyr saddened by the whole PC crap that passes for overbearing government intrusion in our lives. Sesame Street is just one very glaring example, but hardly the only one or the most extreme.

This is where good intentions get you to.

foreverserenity

on Jan 19, 2008

I am not surprised, but I am veyr saddened by the whole PC crap that passes for overbearing government intrusion

Not just government intrusion, private people in companies or/and organizations who think they know what's good for all of us!

JillUser

on Jan 19, 2008

My babysitter and I were talking about this the other day. I can understand the "stranger danger" one but the rest is just upsetting. Whatever happened to childhood silliness. Kids know the difference between what a "monster" does and what they should do. "Cookie Monster" is just that, a monster that gobbles up cookies. Kids know that it is just silliness and find it funny.

When all adult forget what it's like to be a kid, all is lost. Luckily there are enough of us who refuse to "grow up".

foreverserenity

on Jan 19, 2008

When all adult forget what it's like to be a kid, all is lost. Luckily there are enough of us who refuse to "grow up".

Agreed! Thank heavens some of us do!

AngelaMarie88

on Jan 20, 2008

Sesame street doesn't hold my son's attention.

Children's programming has come a long way. There's a lot better stuff out there than Sesame Street nowadays. Sesame Street seems to be an ADD-type show, always flipping from one unrelated segment to another. I've tried to find a theme across the segments, and they sure try to convince the viewer that there's a theme by telling you what the letter-or-number of the day is. Bah. I think anyone who's susceptible to ADD is better off seeking edu-tainment elsewhere.

Oh, and Elmo gives me a headache. But I sure can identify with that Oscar fellow.

By the way, my four-year-old son is now reading and writing, no thanks to anything on TV! Whoopeeee! But I confess that we're suckers for the internet. PBSkids.org is absolutely terrific. Especially WordGirl and Wayne's Word. It's inspired us to play spontaneous games like Word Jousting. He'll come at me with a "sword" and shout the first part of a word (like,"CR!"), then I come back at him with the other half of the word ("ASH!"), then we move in closer and closer until we meet and yell out the word together, ("CRASH!"). Of course we plan the word ahead of time before we start jousting so we both know how it'll go. It's all fun. OK, so we only did that once. But it was cool because he started it, and I can see that he's feeling the magic of literacy!

dynamaso

on Jan 20, 2008

Yet another institution being attacked by PC wankers. Leave Sesame Street alone... Next they'll be asking Disney to put pants on Mickey and Donald... Wankers...

Zoologist03

on Jan 20, 2008

Irony: The people who complain about Oscar are just like him.

Green, bitchy muppets that live in trash cans?

~Zoo

foreverserenity

on Jan 21, 2008

By the way, my four-year-old son is now reading and writing, no thanks to anything on TV! Whoopeeee! But I confess that we're suckers for the internet. PBSkids.org is absolutely terrific. Especially WordGirl and Wayne's Word. It's inspired us to play spontaneous games like Word Jousting. He'll come at me with a "sword" and shout the first part of a word (like,"CR!"), then I come back at him with the other half of the word ("ASH!"), then we move in closer and closer until we meet and yell out the word together, ("CRASH!"). Of course we plan the word ahead of time before we start jousting so we both know how it'll go. It's all fun. OK, so we only did that once. But it was cool because he started it, and I can see that he's feeling the magic of literacy!

Yeah! My daughter and I go on the Internet too. She loves PBSkids and her teacher gave us websites to go on as well!

Leave Sesame Street alone... Next they'll be asking Disney to put pants on Mickey and Donald... Wankers...

! They probably did but we haven't heard about it...yet!

quote]Irony: The people who complain about Oscar are just like him.

Green, bitchy muppets that live in trash cans?

AngelaMarie88

on Jan 27, 2008

She loves PBSkids and her teacher gave us websites to go on as well!

Ooh, would you mind sharing some of the other sites? My son loves that stuff

foreverserenity

on Jan 28, 2008

Ooh, would you mind sharing some of the other sites? My son loves that stuff

Sure! Although the ones she goes on are for class room practices, learning and recognizing letters and words and such. You need a password & log in which the teacher gave me and I changed to my own.

I'll check to see. She also uses the websites for most of those children's programs like Authur, and Barbie. I'll see what I can find and we can compare notes!

Ziggystyles

on Jan 29, 2008

When I was going to college for my Ed degree, one of the books we had to read had a chapter on Sesame Street. I don't remember much about it now, but I do remember it had talked about how lots of children who watch it are sort of parked there by their parents for the TV to be the babysitter. If you watch the show, youll notice lots of mini-scenes and no skits (or whatever they are called) that are that long...so lots of constant short skits...they said that children who watch it are more likelty to develop ADHD because of the constant switching...sort of gets the brain into that pattern.

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