Sesame Street

Criticism

Some educators criticized the show when it debuted, feeling that it would only worsen children's attention spans. This concern still exists today, although there is no conclusive proof of this being the case, even after more than 35 seasons of televised shows.

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In a letter to the Boston Globe, Boston University education professor of education Frank Garfunkel commented "If what people want is for their children to memorize numbers and letters without regard to their meaning or use -- without regard to the differences between children, then Sesame Street is truly responsive. To give a child thirty seconds of one thing and then to switch it and give him thirty seconds of another is to nurture irrelevance."{{ref|criticism}}

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In the magazine Childhood Education, Minnie P. Berson of State University College at Fredonia called "Why debase the art form of teaching with phony pedagogy, vulgar sideshows, bad acting, and layers of smoke and fog to clog the eager minds of small children?" The "vulgar sideshows" have since won a record 101 Emmys, suggesting a disagreement from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.{{ref|criticism}}

Related Topics:
Childhood Education - State University College at Fredonia - Emmys - Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

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For an animation on the letter "J", the writers included "a day in jail", when words starting with the letter were sparse. This drew criticism from San Francisco Chronicle columnist Terrence O'Flaherty, who despite Executive Producer David Connell's assertion that kids are familar with the word through shows like Batman and Superman.{{ref|criticism}}

Related Topics:
San Francisco Chronicle - Terrence O'Flaherty - Batman - Superman

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Even with its attempts to help the underpriviledged, the series received criticism. Educator Sister Mary Mel O'Dowd worried that the show might start to replace "personalized experiences". "If Sesame Street is the only thing ghetto kids have, I don't think it's going to do much good. It never hurts a child to be able to count to ten or recognize the letters of the alphabet. But without the guidance of a teacher, he'll be like one of our preschoolers who was able to write "CAUTION" on the blackboard after seeing it on the back of so many buses, and told me 'That says STOP.'"{{ref|criticism}}

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