thoughts about Sesame Street

[bobbieinok]

My son was about 6 months old when Sesame Street started. Up until he was about 2+, he really didn't pay that much attention to it. (I liked it and enjoyed watching it; I also enjoyed watching The Electric Company when it came out later.)

But whenever Mr Rogers came on, my son started paying close attention. Since I found Mr Rogers pretty sleep-inducing, I tried to figure this out.

I finally realized: my young son paid close attention to Mr Rogers because Mr Rogers talked directly to him and got him involved in the actions, even such things as slowly changing his outdoor to his indoor shoes while talking to my son.

Sesame Street was much more fast action and very quick switches from one thing to another. It just didn't (most of the time--some of the songs were different) involve/interest my young son.

A bit later I decided Sesame Street was a kids' version of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. The fast changes were OK for adults but not necessarily for young children.

[wtmusic]

1. Good point

Noticed the same thing with my kids. I guess there's a lesson in there about speaking directly to them. No baby talk.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. That observation is actually

supported by many different scientific studies. At one point many years ago, Sesame Street actually slowed its pace in response to a study.

[CitrusLib]

3. Your son is my age

or vice versa.

I loved it all. I remember grooving to Sesame Street, Electric Company, Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. It's so weird to see my 3 1/2 year old getting jazzed about children's TV shows. Current favs, Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street. Say what you will about it, but the damn show has staying power!

[Ron Green]

4. Mr. Rogers was a positive influence toward sustaining the attention span

of children, I believe, while "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company" played into that MTV model of one image per second. "Electric Company" seemed especially frantic and nerve-jangling.

[getmeouttahere]

5. I was 3 1/2 when Sesame Street started....

and what I remember most is that my Mom would sing the "Rubber Duckie" song to me!

I have what I consider to be a better-than-average attention span, and I'm willing to give more credit to parents/grandparents who read to me, and my reading a lot at a young age, as the main reasons for that. We moved to Oregon from L.A. the following year (1970) and our little podunk town only had access to one tv station at that point, so we didn't get Mr. Rogers until after I was no longer at home during the day to watch it.

[SouthernDem2004]

6. My son is the same way today.

We will watch Sesame Street for short periods of time but loses interest quickly. Even Elmo only holds his attention for a minute or so. When Mr. Rogers comes on its a whole different story. I am glad they still run his show...

[grumpy old fart]

7. If there are such things as Saints, Mr. Rogers was one....IMHO.....

The man was as pure of Spirit as I have ever seen. As kind and gentle off screen as on. Everyone who ever met him says so. NO ONE has EVER had anything unkind to say or report. Amazing.

[Karenina]

11. The set was the most kid-friendly

I EVER experienced. Their PA's were very well-educated and empathic.
Mr. Rogers was FUNNY! I am forever indebted to him for his kindness and recognition. May he rest in peace... :cry:

[baron j]

8. Respectfully disagree..

I wouldn't be the person I am today, if it wasn't for Henson's soulful style of teaching. I grew up with Sesame Street in the 70's and 80's. I learned much about appreciating diversity, in people and culture. And it rocked! Whatever kids' show celebrated rock, pop, jazz, blues, reggae, and other forms of world music than Sesame Street? Sesame Street taught me how to read and love words, and how to read and love people. Fraggle Rock helped pick up that slack when I started to outgrow Sesame Street, by introducing more complex plots, and the interaction of societies. Marvelous stuff!

Also, Sesame Street isn't afraid to tackle difficult subjects, such as the version in South Africa, which has an HIV positive character:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2264256.stm

Though Sesame Street now is a bastardization of what it once was. I would only have children watch the classic version shown on Noggin channel. They've sucked the soul out of the current version on PBS, trying to make it more like like Barney, Blues Clues, or Teletubbies:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/02/04/DD9808.DTL

The lack of Henson definately shows.

[UdoKier]

9. Sesame Steet is worse now than it was then.

And I agree with your comments completely. Yes, the diversity and urban setting were a positive, and the muppets were pretty cool, but as an overall learning tool, Rogers was far superior.

[baron j]

10. I loved both as a child. Would watch Mr. Rogers, leading into

Sesame Street, though I preferred Sesame Street, because some of the Punch and Judy-esque puppets in Mr. Rogers Land of Make Believe were intimidating to me--such as King Friday, and Lady Elaine--though not as creepy as the Letter People.

Henson embedded all sorts of lessons into Sesame Street, that aren't readily apparent, such as the geometry (shapes in the characters features, eyes, nose, etc.), texture (compare Big Bird's feathers to Oscar's shaggy fur), colors, numbers, and so forth. Also you learned about how to interact at a shop, and with unique, and often, difficult personalities. It also encouraged imagination (Super Grover, and Kermit's news reports on nursery rhymes), and thinking humor (Grover as the waiter who takes orders literally). One more thing I recall, in the 80's, they finally allowed others to see and believe in Big Bird's formerly "imaginary" friend Snuffalupagus, because the writers thought abused children would get the impression that adults would never believe what they had to say.