Last week I was speaking with a co-worker of Bill's at Samaritan's Purse. I told her how I had recently watched an episode of Sesame Street with Sam and saw one of the Muppets (named Murray) looking for a horoscope in a newspaper.
I let her know that that was the last straw for me. I have seen several episodes of Sesame Street where they are teaching things about the "Big Bang Theory" (more specifically that we were all sludge to begin with, after the "big bang," and we evolved to be sentient beings) being the absolute truth or that the world is actually billions and billions of years old. I remember a couple other episodes that were very off-putting too, I believe one dealt with divorce. We don't watch Sesame Street every day, so I was still trying to figure out if it is a normal thing or just with the few episodes I've seen.
I was so surprised by the horoscope scene that I shut off the television and made the decision that we will never be watching Sesame Street again in this house. A lot of the PBS shows have surprised me, though we will still watch Super Why.
The worldview depicted on Sesame Street just doesn't mesh with the one I want to teach my children. I realize that there are a ton of TV shows that also teach a worldview that I don't agree with and that I won't be able to protect them forever, but I'm certainly going to try. Eventually, I want them to be aware of the different worldviews and to be able to make an educated choice for themselves, but during these first few years of their lives, I want to be the one to expose them to what WE believe, as a family. After all, isn't that what raising your children is all about? Training them in the way they should go, so that when they are old they won't depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
Bill's co-worker, Susan, has a son who works for Big Idea. Apparently she contacted him and let him know our story and he mailed her NINE Veggie Tales DVDs for our family, to replace any Sesame Street exposure my kids would have gotten.
I cannot believe the generosity of this man, nor can I believe that Susan was so affected by our story that she shared it with him. I know that Operation Christmas Child has now partnered with Big Idea to do a project for Christmas and it's really exciting to hear about their work. But here we are, just making good decisions for our family, and they are rewarding us! How amazing.
Is there a show that surprised you when you sat down to watch it with YOUR kids? Tell us about it.
9 comments:
That's cool Teesa!! We don't have PBS (or cable of any kind) but I was REALLY strict when my kids were little. Katie still likes to give me a hard time about the things they could not watch! No apologies though, I took my responsibility to guard their hearts very seriously, they are too little to know how to guard their own!
That is awesome!!!! Lexi loves the veggie tales!!! I hope Sam and Carolina enjoy them!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!!!!! You have no idea how excited i am!!! :)
We watch yo gabba gabba instead of sesame street - it teaches simple things like don't hit your friends and other simple things. Nate is addicted - we are even doing a yo gabba gabba birthday.
My kids favorite videos that they all agree on are Boz - and I personally love Boz. I wish they would come out with more soon! Elizabeth knows lots of the songs and I don't find it annoying when she sings those songs over and over and over and over...
Hey Teesa, I've actually run into a lot of programs that I've been frustrated with. Bryan has really been taken in with the Answers in Genesis dvd's and information - because it reminds us of truth. rather than the lies that are out there - sadly I've even come across the lies in Christian homeschool curriculum - they say that they do it so that your child will learn and encounter it from you - however in my opinion - one should help there child develop a strong Christian worldview - before they are exposed to everything that is out there - that way they can adequately distinguish right from wrong! Keep your guard up - it is our job to educate our children according to God's Word - and not let them be "evanglized" by other things. A suggestion - check out "Boz" He is great and has Christian morals and great story/background - my kids love him!
Okay, who is Boz and why have I never heard of him before??? I am checking him out for sure.
Thanks everyone!
That is wonderful. I like Veggie Tales alot.
Hey Teesa,
Boz is created by someone that got frustrated with Barney's lack of Christian values and morals so he made his on big green bear - great and catchy - I agree with Erica and wish that they had a lot more of them - my kiddos love them and they teach great things not just Biblically but also about being healthy and exercising - etc. You can find it at just about any C book store. Hope that helps - Sam and Carlina will love it!
That's really surprising that Murray would mention horoscopes. His segment, "Murray and his little lamb," usually involves going to some sort of specialized school (Karate school, music school, gymnastics school, etc). Usually some sort of extracurricular activity.
Do you know what the episode or context of the scene was, *why* Murray was consulting a horoscope (albeit a newspaper one)?
In the spirit of controlling a child's intake, I am a huge proponent of having DVDs instead of just turning on the television and letting in a live stream of stuff whose content you know nothing about.
THAT SAID, alongside Isaiah and Micah's regular viewings of VeggieTales and other DVDs, we have a heck of a lot of Sesame Street and Elmo DVDs. And I see no purpose in outright boycotting Sesame Street. One writer slips in something about a horoscope for one episode, and the majority of the staff doesn't see the offensive nature of the material (occult practices etc). Okay. That's surprising, but it is one slip-up. And they work in educational material about evolution -- that, I'm not surprised about.
But there's still plenty of great stuff for kids in Sesame Street. Particularly, "Elmo's World," I don't think I've ever seen anything even remotely offensive on those programs.
So if you get some Sesame Street DVDs (they're usually quite cheap), you're good to go. That way, you know the content you're exposing the child to.
...this is generally the problem with TV. Heck, I'm a full-grown adult, and being able to just flip channels and see "whatever's on" usually leads to finding something far from edifying for me.
Right on, Pat!
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