Found this article
http://www.theweek.com/article/index/102691/Top_10_Sesame_Street_controversies
As sesame street comes around its 40th anniversary, i found this interesting. It talks about all the controversies through the years. It shows how such a popular show change with the changing public views. I think most recently, the cookie monster not eating as many cookies because it is unhealthy all the way back to bert and ernie's sexual ambiguity.
-Kevin Vragel
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Some of the controversy in Sesame Street warrants a reason for parents to be worried about what their children are watching or not. But others are a bit over the top. I believe sometimes the producers try and involve too much current events in the show, but at what age is too young to know this? This topic is simply back to the views of the parent. If you don't like what's on tv for your child, turn it off and do something with them instead. Too many parents are allowing their children to be babysat by a TV program.
ReplyDelete-Chad Klotzbach
I have to agree with Chad on this one. Parents are not being as involved with their kids as they should. But at the same time, no parent can completely see everything that their kid is doing. You can instill values in your kids but in the end, it is up to them to make a decision based on what their parents have taught them. Obviously, more independence comes with more maturity. But in the end, the parent should absolutely be more involved in the life of your kids.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I watched this show religiously as a child and never once did these "controversies" effect me. At 3 years old, I did not even know what being gay was, I just thought Bert and Ernie were hilarious. The topic of death that was brought up, in my opinion, that is appropriate for any age. Every child is exposed to death whether it be a pet, a great-grandparent, grandparent, or who ever, children of all ages experience death. To use a character like Big Bird who they can relate to is probably a smart thing. To think that Sesame Street gives children ADD is ridiculous. Children have a short attention span as it is. Sesame Street is broken up that way in order to keep the child engaged and not bored! A lot of these controversies sound like cop-outs. To say that Cookie Monster enables childhood obesity is a little off the wall. I agree with Brad and Chad in that parents need to take responsibility as well. A child cannot have cookies unless the parent buys them. A child of age 3 or 4 will not read between the lines and think Bert and Ernie are gay unless their parent decides to introduce homosexuality into their vocabulary. Overall, I stated in class one time that everyone tends to blame the parents but in part I also blame society. My parents did not have to attend college. They were able to work and spend a lot of time with their kids. Today, there are so many more expectations placed on young adults of our age that having a family, a job, a house, and all of these things that our parents had seems nearly impossible given these crazy time constraints. Our parents were able to start having families and settling down as soon as they were out of high school. Now, we have to wait until after college, which could be any age between 22-26. Then, women have to worry about having a child before they turn 35 when they are less fertile and more likely to have a child with mental disabilities. So within nine years, women are supposed to find a secure job, get maternity leave, have a family, and go right back to work while the father is constantly just trying to make ends meet. This is why so many kids are "nannyed" by the television in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI watched Sesame Street when I was a kid and never picked up on the "adult" topics. I think that it was far better programming values and learning wise than some of the other violent cartoonish shows that is out there.
ReplyDelete