By Michael J. Smith on Tuesday January 24, 2012 02:28 PM
"ALL Kids Deserve Educational Programming!" read the subject line on a recent email, from an earnest outfit called care2.com. I was a bit startled; the credentialling sector is not usually so candid about its operations. Of course it disappointingly turned out to be an appeal to keep PBS funded, so Sesame Street et al. can continue to "help kids succeed".
Comments (9)
A little Freudian Slip.
Posted by Drunk Pundit | January 24, 2012 3:08 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 15:08
Hey, if you can think of a better way to ensure that underprivileged children succeed than by having them stare at a giant yellow bird while the cathode ray tubes eat away at the backs of their eyes I'd love to hear it.
Posted by Troville | January 24, 2012 3:27 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 15:27
Nothing wrong with Sesame Street. Nor public schools, for that matter, if they had a bit more cash.
Meanwhile, I request some commentary on the actual topic of this blog. Crap, Zero has a quarter billion laid in already and the Dims are running no prez primaries.
Meanwhile, it looks as if Zero's strategy of being only visually black and squatting squarely on the corporate nest has already ended this "election," as Brand A (or is it Brand B) can muster only the Mormon from Mammon or Newt Fucking Gingrich.
Posted by Michael Dawson | January 24, 2012 8:02 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 20:02
Sesame Street always seemed lame to me. Same for that awful Christer, Mr. Rogers. I can't imagine watching them when I was a kid. Give me comic books, Captain Video, and the Friday Night Fights. From about age six, dime novels about baseball were favorites too. I just regret that the nuns had me convinced that the June Taylor dancers on the Jackie Gleason show were an immediate occasion to sin.
Posted by michael yates | January 24, 2012 9:19 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 21:19
Agreed about the comic books. Thank God I never got any "educational programming" TV when I was a kid. Closest I got to educational TV was the Three Stooges.
Posted by MJS | January 24, 2012 9:30 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 21:30
See? This place is just declining into an old man's gripe emporium.
You want a personal story? I watched Sesame Street and The Electric Company after school every day, and found them inspiring. No lie.
You really want to attack Sesame Street?
OP, where are you?
Posted by Michael Dawson | January 24, 2012 11:44 PM
Posted on January 24, 2012 23:44
No, Mike, I don't particularly want to attack Sesame Street, especially considering that I am, AM, Oscar the Grouch. I mean, really -- I have the costume in my closet and wear it on every happy occasion. But when we're reduced to defending Sesame Street, our strategic position is clearly very poor, and our tactics need some re-thinking as well.
Posted by MJS | January 25, 2012 12:01 AM
Posted on January 25, 2012 00:01
I found Mr Rogers unbearably sweet and gentle when I was a kid --- I couldn't take it; unwatchable for me. But I've found he has a calming, soothing effect on my impulsive, aggressive, rambunctious 4-year-old boy, so I've warmed up to the cardigan-wearing Christer.
Not quite sure what the beef is here with Sesame Street or the late Fred R. It's not like they're brainwashing kids into becoming tools of the Man or cogs in the machine. If anything, and however cloyingly at times, they seem to be trying to encourage kids to be decent humans.
Posted by chomskyzinn | January 26, 2012 2:35 PM
Posted on January 26, 2012 14:35
OK, OK...yes, the "help kids succeed" is beyond the pale. But isn't that a sales pitch to the upper middle class grasper parents for whom every playdate and activity is geared toward entry into the Ivies? Aren't they just doing good ole fashioned marketing here?
Posted by chomskyzinn | January 26, 2012 2:37 PM
Posted on January 26, 2012 14:37