Strong communities and strong nations are built upon strong families. The job of a parent has always required time and effort, but the job of today’s parent may be the most difficult of all.
Once
upon a time, parents could depend on the children’s television program Sesame
Street to “babysit” their children for a few minutes.
This program allowed a mother to grab a
quick shower without any children in the bathroom with her, or it allowed a
parent to prepare dinner without children getting into mischief. Today’s
parents can no longer trust Sesame Street to teach their children the
alphabet, numbers, colors, or how to get along with a friend.
Bethany Mandel has fond memories of
watching Sesame Street as a child. She “remembers the letters and
numbers of the day, the celebrity guest stars, and the cantankerous Cookie Monster
stealing my heart.” However, she did not plan to set her children in front of
the television set and let them watch the modern-day Sesame Street. In
fact, she added “a DVD player and seasons of all the old shows” to her baby
registry. Mandel and her husband had “witnessed
a shift in the purpose and direction of contemporary children’s media over the
past decade” and did not want to take their children on that journey.
But the shifts keep coming. Last month, “Sesame
Street” marked Pride Month by showing a type of family that has never been seen
in the 51-year history of the iconic children’s television show. According to
TODAY:
The show shared an episode last week
called “Family Day” that features a married gay couple of two dads with their
daughter. A dad named Frank, played by Alex Weisman, and a dad name Dave,
played by Chris Costa, along with their daughter Mia, played by Olivia Perez,
join the neighborhood family that surprises Big Bird at a party.
A character in the episode observes that “all
of our families are so different.”
“There’s all kinds of different families,”
Frank says. “But what makes us a family is that we love each other.” …
“Sesame Street” has addressed a range of
social issues in recent years, including addiction, incarceration, race,
homelessness and autism.
Parents may not be opposed to such
an episode under certain circumstances. However, this episode -- and other children’s
media following the same type of trend – assumes that parents do not mind
television programs teaching values to their children. Mandel wrote about her
opposition to this teaching.
I don’t particularly care if “Sesame Street”
features episodes with two dads; we have discussed with our children the
different family makeups around us. What makes this episode – and the entire
trend in children’s media – troublesome is the assumption that it is up to a
media company to introduce topics ranging from addiction to same-sex marriage on
their terms and that these topics should be presented to toddler-aged
children watching programming like “Sesame Street.”
When played out in this way, the
presentation isn’t just designed to be educational and informative; it’s meant
as a symbol of virtue. The intention with episodes of this nature, especially
launched during Pride Month, isn’t merely inclusion – it’s promotion.
Mandel continues her explanation for why
she is concerned about children’s programming today. She ends with the
following warning:
Parents should take note: The aim of
children’s media is no longer just to provide free, education-minded
babysitting while you get ready for work. Parents who want to remain the
guiding force in their kids’ moral upbringing should opt-out of kids’ media
produced in the last decade or so and invest in some vintage “Sesame Street.”
The screen may not be in HD and the latest celebrity guest stars may be dated,
but at least you know you can walk out of the room for a quick shower.
Parents can no longer trust children’s
programming to be strictly educational because too many are trying to teach
morals. Parents must be aware of what children are learning from media to keep
their family strong and to strengthen their community and nation.
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