It's good to know that a lot of thought and research has gone into many of X-factors favorite shows:
PBS Launches An ABCs Offensive With New Shows : NPR
Saturday, August 23, 2008
PBS Launches An ABCs Offensive With New Shows : NPR
Posted by Unknown at Saturday, August 23, 2008
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2 comments:
Word World and Super Why are two of my kids favorite shows. I actually don't mind watching them myself. I'm just glad the Doodlebops seem to have bopped away from Disney. They always weirded me out!
We were initially thrilled at Super Why since our boy is obsessed with superheroes. What a better way to channel that obsession, we thought?
Then, I started to watch it carefully with him and I became very concerned about the underlying theme: if you don't like the story, change it! These stories were passed down to us for the lessons they contained about how to grow up, handle adversity and live with others. Furthermore, I thought of the many stories in the Bible I would want to change if I could. Crucifixion is among the most cruel ways to die. Following the Super Why model to its extreme, Jesus wouldn't have to die. We could just change the story! Eve would never have eaten the fruit and given it to Adam. We would all live in Eden forever. But what would we learn about the grace of God and the plight of humans in this world?
I don't ever want to question another parent's choice to allow their children to watch what is by all accounts a well-researched and probably effective teaching show. But I do want to point out the dangerous (and probably not intentional) subtext about how we teach our children to think about stories.
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