One thing Mitch and I struggle with as parents is the issue of media -- mostly TV and video games. We generally only deal with this when Sarah is here. We do allow Ella to watch TV, but only our "Baby Signing Times" DVD. We have chosen not to have cable or satellite in our home, at least for now. Yesterday we received a notice that our apartment community is now offering a really great deal on cable. It was tempting, but thankfully our budget is tight enough so we declined.
This morning Sarah and I were watching Sesame Street on PBS (one of the 8 or so channels we get with the goold ole bunny ears!). I had a conversation a few months ago with some other moms and grandmoms about Sesame Street and how liberal it is getting, but I had yet to see anything objectionable so I was still open to it. This morning on the Elmo section of the show they showed different families in short video clips. They went through interracial; single parents; different cultures...and then showed a clip of two daddies and their kids. Sigh. It was quick and subtle, but I now for a fact that this is how media works -- through subtlety.
Now, I don't want to completely seclude our kids from reality. We originally had planned not to have cable at all, ever, but some older wiser parents showed us that having cable allows us to teach our kids how to make wise choices when it comes to what we watch. It's just unfortunate that we're going to have these discussions about Sesame Street! Thank God for Veggie Tales and the other fantastic cartoons the Christian media is putting out!
I hate to think of our kids growing up without Big Bird and Cookie Monster, but at least we have Bob and Larry to replace them!
Friday, June 29, 2007
TV, Kids, & Sesame Street
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Yeah that is a dilemma! We don't have cable, and haven't even got the antenna we would need to be able to watch the regular stations. For now, we just watch DVDs, but I imagine this could be an issue when Kate is old enough to realize her friends watch TV.
I'd heard about the not-so-positive changes SS was making. We have only caught the show a few times and have not seen any of it for ourselves. Like you, I'm disappointed that they had to go too far. Noah loves all the characters on his placemat but I don't think he understands they come from TV. But PBS does have other good shows. Our little animal lover LOVES 'Zaboomafoo'. 'Mustard Pancakes' is fun too. Oh, and they have an Irish animal cartoon by Mel Brooks. You know I can't pass that up. Bottom line is, it's not all bad. And I likes the point your friends made about TV teaching your children how to make good choices - I hadn't looked at it that way.
Oh, I still love PBS! I'm just sad about Sesame Street.
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