Sarah's Thoughts
This is a See-We-Us Problem
One of the undesirable side effects of having the unequalled in wonderfulness job of being a mother is exposure to children’s programming. I was never a big fan of cartoons when I was a kid, only watching the Saturday morning shows to see the “One to Grow On” and Menudo segments that came on just before the top of the hour. Now, I am learning about the new characters that have sprung onto the toddler landscape.
I have a problem with one feature I have noticed both in the classic Sesame Street and the new program likely created under the influence of hallucinogens called The Wonder Pets. In both shows, there is a character who speaks with a pronounced speech impediment (Sesame Street features Little Bear and Wonder Pets has, I believe, a baby chick). For these animals, “serious” becomes “see-we-us” and “bear” becomes “ba-wah”.
I suppose the intention of the shows’ creators is to allow children who struggle with speech impediments to hear others who sound like them and therefore know they aren’t alone (just as it makes sense to feature children of different races and backgrounds). However, isn’t a primary purpose of these educational shows to teach children about proper language and diction? Shouldn’t these puppets serve as an example for the kids to model?
I assume that children who have difficulty pronouncing certain sounds will be provided speech therapy in school. Why continue to reinforce incorrect practices until that point? I don’t let Catherine watch Wonder Pets anymore and I turn off the sound when Little Bear comes on Sesame Street. I don’t want her to think that those words are correct as she learns sounds for the first time.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:55 am
This is the same reason I wouldn’t let my children watch an otherwise very good science program back when Channel 8 actually carried academic programming. The program came out of Chattanooga or Knoxville and the teacher had a very pronounced accent that I didn’t want the children to pick up.
I still wish Channel 8 would provide some of that programming. Most of it was far superior to the cartoons they now run.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
You misspelled pwob-wem.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I can’t claim any direct knowledge of the creators’ intentions for the duck character (named Ling Ling or Ming Ming). But I doubt they gave nearly as much weight to her educational value as you suggest when you say:
“I suppose the intention of the shows’ creators is to allow children who struggle with speech impediments to hear others who sound like them and therefore know they aren’t alone…”
I strongly suspect that Ling-Ling’s speech impediment is there for only one reason: it’s cute. And that’s for the parents, not the kids.
The programming people know that many parents turn on whatever shows provide the least annoying background noise as they go about their household routine. Ling-Ling’s lisp, the catchy tunes of the Backyardigans, etc. are designed not as much for education as for parental aesthetic appeal.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:36 am
parental aesthetic appeal? I can hardly believe you mean that. A speech impediment is NEVER cute. I would think almost nobody would want to hear it.