"Educational Television"

I remember watching Sesame Street as a young child, and as a child of about 10 I remember after school programming on PBS that was educational. There were shows like "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" there was also a show centered around math that I do not remember the name of. These shows are touted as being educational but are they really educational or are they just a structured form of babysitting? I would argue that they are both. They are educational in the sense that they present information about numbers, simple words, and basic geography, but they do not build on previous lessons which makes them just a game like a good babysitter might employ to keep children entertained. They are structured in such a way as to be entertaining as well as sneaking extremely basic concepts in so as to appear educational. It's neither a good nor a bad thing to watch these things, but if you are a parent you have to be aware of what these shows could really teach your children. Children don't have the mental capacity yet to understand that learning isn't always fun, you don't always get prizes for having the right answer, and there could be lasting consequences for your actions which isn't shown in these types of shows. Supplementing a child's education with these shows isn't a bad thing but the education shouldn't start with these shows.