Here is a link to the video in question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29lmR_357rA
I never watched Mr. Rogers as a kid, or Sesame Street or anything like that as a child. In fact, the only thing my parents allowed me to watch was The Magic School Bus, but that was when I was quite a bit older.
“Mr. Rogers is and evil man.” Parents are trying to blame Mr. Rogers, and other television shows, for their failures as parents. Any parent that stuck their child in front of a television for long periods of time has failed their child. I do not see anything wrong with allowing children allotted amounts of time to watch television. BUT they should have to do something and have television as a reward. They have to finish their home work or do chores, or something… FIRST.
FOX talks about how the people who grew up watching Mr. Rogers have a sense of deserving things without work. Again, I think this is more the parents fault, than the TV. However, there is something that I do believe is the television’s fault. Maybe it wasn’t as prominent when this was aired, but it certainly is now. Students, whether be elementary, high school, or even (shockingly) university, have this belief that they go to school to be entertained. If learning isn’t entertaining then they don’t have to do it. YET they still think they deserve the certificates as if they had earned it. Teachers spend more time and resources trying to keep their students engaged, than actual teaching!
Now, I do admit that there are some bad teachers out there. However, from my experience, the good teachers (meaning they don’t allow slack, expect hard work, and aren’t afraid to fail those who deserve it) are more often known as bad teachers. Students spread lies about how horrible the teacher is to younger students. Then when the younger students graduate they make even wilder stories than the first set of students. It is a never ending cycle until the teacher changes schools, and even then it sometimes spreads from school to school.
These two ideas have woven themselves tightly into society! University has become more a social gathering than an institute of education! Parties all the time, drinking, very little serious studying. Then, when they get bad marks they have the nerve to blame the professor! Same thing in high schools. A student gets a bad mark on a report card, and tells the parent it’s the teacher’s fault. The parent accepts it, because the parent does not want to admit that he/she is failing as a parent!! Many of the parents now have grown up with the mentality that they do not need to work for anything, and have passed it on to their children.
Our society’s emphasis on “entertainment” has screwed us all over. Not only has it corrupted the education system, but it is also infiltrating our thoughts on crime. How many gang crimes, fights, or property damage have been blamed on boredom? Why is it that society is making it so everyone has to be entertained?! If someone does a crime, it is now justified because they weren’t being entertained?! This is crap. Where will it end?
