Questionably Educational SST Skits

[minor muppetz]

I thought I'd start a thread on segments that hardly have any educational value.

It seems like most segments about baths, especially songs, don't really teach much. They seem to just encourage taking a bath. I didn't notice any educational content in Ernie and Bert's first skit from the first epsiode. Though in part 2, Ernie sings Everybody Wash, which is sort of a play-along song. And the word "Wash" appears on screen. And I have recently noticed that the "W" is in a different font than the rest of the word, and it actualy wiggles. I wonder if this song was subliminally advertising the letter W (which seemed to be the highest-paying sponsor for the first episode )

I can't really tell what Rubber Duckie is supposed to teach. And is Do De Rubber Duck supposed to teach kids that they should dance in the bath tub, and have as many of their friends dancing in the tub with them at the same time?

It seems like most dancing segments don't really teach much. Perhaps they teach creativity, since many dance numbers feature dances created especially for the songs.

Are the sketches where Ernie talks to Bert about his day at the zoo,a dn the sketch where Ernie has a weird phone conversation that ends up being the wrong number, supposed to teach anything (I haven't seen those sketches)? And I can't realy think of any educational value that appears in Sesame Street News: Rupunzel.

It seems like some of the early song covers just barely have educational value. In the middle of Octopuses Garden, the singer takes the time to point out that an octopus has eight legs, and counts them. I don't know whether As I Was Going to St. Yves was a cover or not, but in that one, the boy holds up a number seven throughout the song, though it doesn't really teach the number seven (he mentions several things that there were sevedn of in his song). And what the $^& is Mahna Mahna supposed to teach? It also seems like Lulu's Back in Town doesn't realy teach anything. I guess it could teach kids about fear, though the singer doens't fear Lulu at all, and the people who are frightened by Lulu don't ever get over their fear. And is Windy educational (I know that there's a non-US version on You Tube, but an english-language version is a bit hard to come by)?

 

[anytimepally]

I can't really tell what Rubber Duckie is supposed to teach. And is Do De Rubber Duck supposed to teach kids that they should dance in the bath tub, and have as many of their friends dancing in the tub with them at the same time?

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I *hated* taking baths.. a lot of kids hate taking baths, in fact, and these songs are meant to show kids that bathtime can be fun

 

[Mistersuperstar]

I don't think that every sketch should be purely educational. There needs to be a fun element too to keep kids entertained. The educational clips should seemlessly blend with the non-educational clips so that kids don't realise they are learning.

 

[Katzi428]

Well I think w/the "wrong number" sketch,it was demonstrating feelings. And "Everybody Wash" was probably talking about parts of the body everyone should wash. With "Rubber Duckie" I guess Ernie's saying how much fun it is to take a bath.Same w/"Do de Duck". (although I myself wouldn't want my friends in the tub with me )
I'm just guessing at all these things.I'm not a child psychologist or anything.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well it is important for kids to understand the importance of washing and taking baths, especially when most of them dread the event, hehe. And like Katzi said, it names the different parts of the body. And yeah I do think the wiggling W was supposed to be a form of advertising, lol, since they were trying to copy the style of commericals.

And the Rapunzel news sketch introduces young kids to the story, probably for one of the first times (though in a slightly twisted way!)

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Well, I think some of the sketches and songs that have little to no educational value (like "Mahna Mahna") are supposed to teach kids some about imagination- but mainly just to teach kids to have fun!
Everything doesn't have to be a life or school lesson! There are times to take a break for recess out on the playground!

 

[ISNorden]

I agree--although most of Sesame Street is supposed to be educational, some of the early sketches were thrown in just for fun. Gonzo's comparison with recess during a school day is dead accurate, in my opinion; besides, Sesame Street was partially inspired by "Laugh-In"!

 

[minor muppetz]

I've read that during the early years the writers would get a book on the shows curriculum goals, and after writing a sketch they would look through the book to make sure that the sketches had something relevant to the curriculum.

Another sketch that doesn't seem to have any educational value, though I've only seen it in The Sesame Street Book of Puzzlers, is one where Ernie is upside-down on the ceiling, planning on pouring a glass of milk, with Bert saying that you can't pour milk upside-down, but Ernie manages. I know that those early books didn't include word-for-word dialogue, so I'm not sure if there was any educational value missing from this sketch in the book, and I don't think anybody here has any memory of ever seeing that sketch.

 

[DTF]

that could be to teach the concept of right-side-up versus upside-down, though - that's the thing with some of these sketches, they have a very good knack for doing thigns in an implied way, whereas today it's a little to a lot less subtle.

Of course, depending on the wording of the scene, I could be wrong about teach that concept. I don't recall it.

The banana in the ear, though, which was my favorite growing up - I don't remember anything except "Ernie, you've got a banana in your ear," and "I can't hear you, I've got a banana in my ear." So, I couldn't say either way on that.

It wasn't as necessary then, so this probably wasn't the reason, whenever it came out. However, I can't help but wonder, if they want to encourage activity, why they don't just play more dancing stuff now. Because when I think of Ernie doing "Dance Myself to Sleep,' the *first* thing I think of a kid diong is wanting to copy that dance. You may be right that the dances back then were probably to teach creativity, though.

 

[Drtooth]

Spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, as Julie Andrews once sang. That is what was revolutionary at the time about SS (other than the integrated races being the human stars, which was also pretty revolutionary for that time period).

You don't have to teach things 24 7.... after all, sometimes a good laugh is what kids need. Not to mention the fact the original idea was not only to make a show kids will watch, but a show thast their parents will watch as well.

But I feel that the most important lessons come from the most unlikely sources. Bert and Ernie arguing can be a great example of many things. Logic, the fact that friends can fight, difference of opinion, and various other things. the Song I Love Trash may not seem educational, but it shows that people can like different things that other people may actually hate. Plus it also shows that it's normal to have a prized possession, especially when your youngwer, to constantly carry around (same thing about the song and posession of Rubber Duckie).

It is indeed times when you aren't thinking that you tend to learn more.