They Say: Educational TV? Not So Much
Posted by Amy Kuras at 12:30 PM on November 14, 2008
Here’s a news flash -“educational” TV for kids might not actually be all that educational!
This should shock, well, no one who has ever moved the dial off ABC Kids. I always kind of snicker at preschool TV channels, which introduce all their programs with a little clip telling us what sort of educational skills they are supposed to enhance. While most sound about right, if you can tell me what’s remotely educational about, say, Wow Wow Wubbzy I’ll give you a bajillion dollars.
Nonprofit group Children Now, in partnership with researchers from the University of Arizona and the University of Illinois, looked at 40 different kids’ shows. Each was evaluated on several criteria associated with the ways children learn from television.
Researchers found most programs labelled as educational or instructional had limited educational value for child viewers. Only one of every eight shows, or 13 percent, qualified as highly educational. Almost one quarter of them were classified as minimally educational, and the rest, 63 percent, were judged to be moderately educational.
Eight shows earned an exemplary rating: Sesame Street, Beakman's World, Between the Lions, 3-2-1 Penguins, Cyberchase, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, and Teen Kids News. Half of those are PBS shows, which overall ranked much higher for its educational offerings than commercial TV. Commercial shows mostly emphasised social and emotional lessons, while PBS shows included cognitive and intellectual lessons.
This matters because educational children’s programming is supposed to be part of the “payback” commercial broadcasters give the American people in exchange for free use of the airwaves. Most do only the minimum of three hours per week, and the vast majority of the programming is only offered on weekends.
"Commercial broadcasters are clearly falling short in meeting their obligation to the nation's children," said Dale Kunkel, communications professor at University of Arizona and one of the study’s lead researchers.
Why does children’s TV have to be educational anyway (other than the deal about American broadcasting mentioned)? I rarely watch TV, but when I do it is usually to be entertained, not educated. Why should I expect my child to watch TV and be educated by it? Why not let the kid watch a bit of entertainment now and then, and actually bother to ‘educate’ him myself if it is that important? Let’s stop trying to excuse our use of the electronic babysitter by telling ourselves that it is ‘educating’ the little ones