I know what you are thinking. You read the title of this post and wondered to yourself, "no, my kids are watching too much TV!" Well, that might be true. When I ask if your kids are watching enough television, I'm not referring to the time spent in front of the magic technicolor picture box, I'm talking about the quality of the television they are watching. Too often I meet and talk to kids who spend way too much time watching irreverent cartoons and too little time watching something actually educational and interesting. Something that would nurture their young, spongy minds and not just entertain them with seizure-inducing flash movement and ridiculous cartoon scenarios.
To wit, this is not a cartoon-bashing post. I love me some cartoons and so do my kids, but sadly some children just watch way too much television, and when it's nothing but cartoons that is a very important part of their life they just aren't going to get back. Clearly, the age group I'm shooting for isn't the preschool age where the cartoons are like preschool on television (as Nick Jr. says) but rather the elementary/middle school kids who come home, drop their bag and plop down in front of the tube. As parents, and as geeky parents we have a responsibility to their mental development to change their habits.
That's the hard part. When kids hear "History Channel" or "Discovery Channel" they tend to tune you out. At first. The key here is the resolve of the parent. My kids didn't want to have anything to do with anything possibly educational until I made them watch. I sat them down, turned on the Discovery Channel and made them watch. The first show I made them watch was Dirty Jobs. After two episodes of Mike Rowe slogging through trash and doing generally disgusting things, they were hooked. Next up was Mythbusters. The experiments on that show should be enough to capture the imagination and brain waves of even the most cartoon-hardened child. Things explode! What child doesn't enjoy watching things explode!
As a side note, both Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs kick off new seasons this month.
Secretly though, I was pulling a fast one over on the kids. Little did they know it, but they were learning. Maybe they wouldn't be able to re-create an experiment they saw on Mythbusters or learn all the physics and science behind it, but they were picking up something more than just random catch phrases and smart-alecky creatures running around. Soon we moved on to deeper fare, more rooted in engineering and science. Shows such as Build it Bigger and How It's Made on the Science Channel are fantastic tools for learning and entertainment. Though the narrative on How It's Made could use a little help.
Soon they went from watching nothing but cartoons to watching nothing but shows on the Discovery Networks family of channels. I don't think we ever watch anything on Discovery Health though. Whenever I turn over to catch the tail end of a Phineas & Ferb episode, I get told to turn it back. It's amazing that they've grown to enjoy these shows so thoroughly. One of the hidden gems, Destroyed in Seconds, is a great show to illustrate that life isn't all cut and dry and you should always be not only completely aware of your surroundings, but know to expect the unexpected to happen and be as prepared as you can.
I know this all sounds like a glowing endorsement of the Discovery Network, and it is. Because when I was a child -- it was nowhere near as entertaining and interesting. Back then, Discovery Channel was just one channel and generally there was a show on about the wildlife in Africa. While interesting, there was no real-world application. It's nice to learn about the mating cycle of the lion, but how is that knowledge going to help me in real life?
So when it comes to nature programming, I was a bit more selective because I know how droll that can be. Thankfully, there is Shark Week. We all know about Shark Week. Probably the best idea Discovery had was to devote a whole week of prime-time programming during the summer to nothing but sharks. That was freaking awesome. The kids look forward to Shark Week like they'd look forward to going to Disney World. As far as nature programs go, it really can't get any better. Mixing the science and physiology of sharks with real-life encounters and near-death experiences, it's hard to not watch.
However, their favorite show about the outdoors is Man Vs. Wild. Watching Bear Grylls struggle through the jungles, tundras and deserts all while eating the local wildlife and getting hurt and surviving really gets their wheels turning. I'm hoping they're taking as much away from the show as intended and can themselves survive in the wild if need be.
Next up was Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern's shows on the Travel Channel. No Reservations and Bizarre Foods (now Bizarre World) take the viewer on an all-expense-paid trip around the world to discover the local cultures and cuisines that make each destination unique. I know, that sounded like I read it off the press release. I didn't. These two shows have become gross-out staples in our house, and the kids watch just to see what strange things Zimmern is going to eat next, or if Bourdain is going to have yet another boating faux pas. Plus, if you haven't watched No Reservations, I suggest you do just because Bourdain probably has the best narrator voice I've ever heard. He's not dull and he keeps myself and the kids entertained even when he's bored. Sure, he can get a little profane sometimes and drink a bit too much on the show -- but it's worth it to get glimpses of the world around and about us.
The next step in changing their television habits after getting them interested was moving on to history. I'm a total honk for the History Channel. Recently, the History Channel has branched out to outer space with The Universe. The show features some great science facts as well as just amazing images of the celestial bodies floating in space. This show makes for a great tool for capturing their imaginations, jamming it into a jar and shaking it up a bit. However, not quite enough engineering for me.
So I introduced them to Modern Marvels. Probably one of the best educational programs on television. Covering tons of subjects ranging from battle gear to insulation to candies and snacks, the show goes over how a product or device is made and what it's used for. Talk about learning. Even as an adult, and a non-engineer, it's still amazing and leaves me in wonderment and awe seeing how specific parts are used to put something that I use together. It's even better seeing that look on a child's face.
As they get older, I can't wait to introduce them to military history, starting with Mail Call and Lock n' Load with R. Lee Ermey. While general military history is okay at this point, I think it's too early to turn them on to the history of automatic weapons and artillery shelling. Though, the time will soon come.
What I'm getting at here is that if the kids are going to be in front of the television as much as they are, you might as well make it as worthwhile as possible. I'm sure most of you already know this, but you'd be surprised. For a while there, I didn't know it. I'd watch Discovery after they went to bed, thinking they wouldn't be interested. I was surprised to say, I was wrong. They were interested.
Cartoons aren't the bane of society; they are a great distraction from the real world, but then -- so is the real world. Seeing another part of the world, or the universe or looking back in time is as much of a distraction from your current stress in life (for us, work -- for them, school) as are cartoons and other mindless programming.
I'd like to suggest a healthy balance in their television watching. For every half-hour of an episodic cartoon, have your kids check out some of the shows I mentioned above. You may already watch them with your kids, you may not. I'm not here to judge, just to suggest.
You may have noticed I didn't mention any of the "reality" shows such as Ice Road Truckers or Deadliest Catch. Those shows, at least to me, don't really fall under an educational banner. Sure, if you want to know how to cut down trees or drive a truck, great; one episode is good for that. Those shows are about the stress and drama of those jobs and it's my feeling that kids don't really need to see how high stress those jobs are. They can learn for themselves one day. The world will always need loggers and truckers. Until the robots take over of course.
Check out Discovery.com, Travel Channel.com and History.com for more great programming, but steer the kids away from The Learning Channel. While it's under the Discovery umbrella, it's gotten a bit weird lately.
