Sesame Street as a Community Asset. Your Thoughts?

[CensoredAlso]

Sesame Street deals with many issues head on. They don't run away from them, they confront them. When Mr. Hooper died, they could've said he moved away, but they dealt with it, they used it as a teaching tool. They encouraged parents to watch with their children so they could discuss it later in their families, classrooms, etc.

Very true. Most kids shows want to shield children from the world, provide a happy cute fictional world, with no substance. Sesame Street didn't shy away from such things, they offered hope. Again, I'm not sure that's as true now, but that's not what your paper is discussing.

 

[Katzi428]

One specific thing I learned from Sesame Street was words both in English & Spanish(like agua in Spanish=water in English, casa in Spanish= house in English) Sesame Street showed some segments in both English & Spanish.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Another thing about diversity, it also includes the Muppet characters. There are monsters on the show, some of which are often frightening, at least at first glance. Kids are always taught to be afraid of monsters. But Sesame Street teaches not to judge someone by their appearance or heritage. "Ugly" can be beautiful. Sesame Street has songs with lyrics like, "I Want a Monster to be my Friend" and "We are Monsters, but we're sweet, we're the lovable Monsters of Sessame Street." It's a very important lesson, especially for kids today.

 

[BooberKnowsBest]

wow, these are some great responses from everybody. yeah, i always liked the fact that SS didn't shy away from the more delicate subjects like death and war and stuff like that. These are things that kids need to know about as much as adults do. And the great thing is that SS talks about it in a way that kids can understand without dumbing it down. This is one of the main reasons i chose to write about it. But anyways, thanks everyone, there's alot of good quotes in this thread. Oh and thanks haralde, for the correction on the debut year! i wasn't sure about that one, but at least i was close

 

[BooberKnowsBest]

Approved!

Good news, everyone! my topic was approved! so now i'm off to start the research. I'm going to try and rent (or buy) "the world according to sesame street" can anyone recommend any other good sources like books or websites? once again, thanks a bunch everybody!

 

[Erine81981]

I'll see what I can come up with. Here you go BKB.

Growing up in the late 80's since i was born around 1981. I really don't recall any of the older episodes at all but i still remember several from my childhood of the 80s. Now seeing that Ryan has already talked about how Sesame Street taught him about numbers, letter and how to read then I'll talk about how Sesame Street has made me love puppets. Ever since i was little i couldn't get enough of Sesame Street. Coloring books, cassette tapes and toys. I have always been a big fan of puppets. So i would do puppet shows for my family with stuff animals. After awhile they would fall apart and i would then have to get more. That was until Sesame Workshop came out with the puppets of the late 80's early 90's. Ooo of all the stuff i could with these characters. My first being Oscar. I don't know what made my granny get Oscar but that's who i first had. But what Sesame Street taught me?

It's taught me that no matter who or what color races you are. You can do anything you sent your mind to. I remmeber one episode that Telly had broke his arm. Poor Telly didn't know what to do. He thought he would never be able to all the things he did when he didn't have a broken arm but that's when Maria and Lius told him he would be able to do anything if he just set his mind to do it. So Sesame Street had taught me lots of things over the years and also that music is the best way to get over something your mad about or sad too. So i hope that one of these days i'll be able to do what i want to do with my life. And i owe it all to Sesame Street.

Hope you can use any of this BKB. If not don't fret. Can't wait to see the finished paper.

 

[mikebennidict]

http://members.tripod.com/~hooperfan/index-2.html

besides photos there's a link called All About Sesame Street which is a transcript of 1971 publication.

 

[BooberKnowsBest]

Thanx for your contribution, Erine81981! i really enjoyed reading what you had to say and thanx mikebenedict for that link! that's awesome that they have the whole book! that's sure gonna come in handy

 

[BooberKnowsBest]

Hey i remembered i promised i'd post my paper when i finished, so i have returned to MC. I'm almost done with my paper, but i'd like to ask you guys a couple more questions.

How do you rate Sesame street next to other educational programs such as between the lions, teletubbies, or any other shows you can think of?

and

What is your opinion on the use of television as a teaching tool?

thanks alot everyone, looking forward to your replies

 

[D'Snowth]

1. Sesame Street has been around for nearly 38 years, and through out the years, Sesame Street has always managed to keep up with the times as far as children's education is concerned; I mean sure, shows like Between the Lions, or Clifford the Big Red Dog may offer a variety, but if you ask me, they still can't ever muster up to Sesame Street.
2. I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea, kids ALWAYS manage to pick up just about everything from what they see on TV, so when you have this tool that can teach young children while at the same time entertain them, I think that right there is just plain genius.