This Episode of Sesame Street Is Brought To You By The Letter I … Phone?
Before I blow full steam ahead on this post, I want to take you back in time. Through the magic of YouTube, please go back with me to the 1970′s, and a very familiar television show opening. I bet you can sing along…
Now, did you notice anything? Kids? Ok. A big yellow 7 year old bird? Good! Notice anything else? Were the kids outside?! AND they were PLAYING!!!! Keep this in mind as I continue to rant…
Yesterday, Christina Warren of Mashable.com wrote a piece praising Sesame Street and their Elmo iPhone app. Take a look:
Christina begins her article by saying:
Sesame Street is one of my favorite brands, not just because Grover is amazing, but because over the last 40 years, it has never been afraid of innovating and embracing new technologies.
To which I thought, absolutely! A quick search on my blog for ‘Sesame Street’ will reveal my love for all things Sesame Street as well! Calli and I have spent countless hours on the laptop watching and playing with our Sesame Street friends on sesamestreet.org! Even my very first column for Dad-Blogs was about Sesame Workshop‘s panwapa.com. (Feel free to visit the column here: Can You Tell Me How To Get To Panwapa Island?) So yes, I agree that Sesame Street is worth buying in to.
She goes on to talk about the app, and then this statement caught my eye:
On my running route, I see children in their strollers playing on iPhone or iPod touch devices. It’s amazing.
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The squeal of screeching tires sounded in my head and I did a spit-take. WHAT?! ‘Come on kids, let’s go to the park. You can play on my iPhone!’?
When I first saw that, I wanted to rant about the evils of technology and how Sesame Street shouldn’t influence kids to sit around playing with it. But then it hit me. Sesame Street is just taking advantage of how we as parents utilize technology in order to get their brand out in front of as many young eyeballs as possible. And it’s still a good brand. Sesame Workshop does a lot for our kids, and I would never discourage anyone from participating in that.
But iPhones in strollers?! Parents, please. What are you doing to your kids?
Don’t get me wrong, I love technology. I can’t rail against technology as I type my blog in to my laptop while I listen to Pandora and munch on my freshly microwaved breakfast. I’ve been known to hand my Blackjack II to my kid with a cartoon or game on. But I do that while we’re waiting at the doctor’s office or the DMV. And if we are at the doctor’s office, I look for toys. The dirtier the better. Builds up the immune system with antibodies. But I digress.
When at the park, dear parents, what ever happened to ‘Look, Junior, isn’t that a cute puppy?’ or ‘My, what a tall tree that is!’ If a kid is dexterous enough to navigate an iPhone app, I’m willing to bet that he/she is able to walk and explore the world around them. Why would you hamper that?
What do you think? Am I just flying off the deep end? Has my year plus of Daddy Blogging finally given me a self-righteous need to judge all other parents and find them inferior? How do you utilize technology in your parenting?
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Tags: Fatherhood Friday, Pandora, panwapa, Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop, YouTube
Absolutely we utilize technology in our home, by featuring Sesame Street Old School DVD’s…LOL…and it still cracks me up, the disclaimer at the beginng of each…”some subjects may not be suitable for today’s children”…Seriously? It was good enough for us, 30 years ago…why not now? LOL
Cheers for an excellent post!
BellaDaddy´s last blog .."Daddy’s Where’s Your Vagina?"
Yeah, but you gotta admit, Oscar was down right mean back then. And Gordon likes to yell. The best DVD is ‘The Best Of The Electric Company’, with Bill Cosby smoking cigars and being downright rude. The times certainly have changed!
my ex mil started my 13 yo on computers when she was only 3 yo. my ex mil had to watch her for us on the weekends when my ex and i were both at work. she almost knows more than i do about technology. i swear i had NOTHING to do with it lol all my kids are older 22, 13, 10), and outside of the computer, there was nothing really technologically that we used in regards to their learning other than tv and watching the kid programming. i don’t know why kids are playing w iphones or why they even have one of their own…shoot, even i don’t have an iphone, and i’m ok w that.
btw elmo is one of my faves, he shares a bday w 13yo: feb. 3rd
can i tell you that i loved electric company more than sesame street growing up? i wonder why that is lol
ciara´s last blog ..Fatherhood Friday
I guess everyone needs the latet and greatest, even toddlers. But I agree, I don’t own an iPhone, and I don’t want one.
As far as Electric Company is concerned, it ran a very close third in my top shows as a kid. I was (and still am) too in to Muppets to not give the top slots to Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.
I can appreciate the fact that technology can be simplified and used by children to assist them in learning. iPhones, Wii, nickjr.com, and Leapster for example.
But I agree. You go outside to go outside. It’s bad enough that we DVR stuff all the time and we as adults check out facebook and twitter updates on our phones, but don’t overwhelm the kid with the artificial stimulus this early. Parks are for running, jumping, screaming and other things we don’t allow them to do inside.
Eric´s last blog ..Dirty Jobs
Yeah. Run. Jump PLAY! Kids learn more about the world and themselves if they’re allowed to just play. I know when I take the technology away, my kid hates it as first, but winds up having more fun.
iPhone apps have their place for kids, and while I may not be among the iPhone ownership group for much longer thanks to AT&T p#$%ing me off, they certainly don’t need to be playing with them at the park. My son gets to mess with the different iPhone apps we have for him on our iPhones when we are out and about, but mostly to keep him entertained when the rigors of running errands is taking too long.
PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Things to consider when naming a child
Exactly. I’m not completely against Sesame Street apps. But geez, unplug once in a while. It’s too late for us adults who are too reliant on technology, but let the kids explore the world beyond their nose!
Dear God, iPhones in strollers! What next? My children were deprived. When I took them in the stroller, it was to bring them outside, let them breathe in the (ok, not so) fresh air. It was so they could see what was outside of their front window. When we ended up at the park, as we ocassionally did, they got out of the stroller to play on the swings or slide or . . . My only beef with technology is that it seems to isolate the kids inside the house. If they are not on their iPhone, they’re on the computer or plugged into their iPod. When they are outside, kids should be totally unplugged. I think technology can lead to sensory deprivation.
BTW, thanks for the 1970s intro to Sesame Street. Yes, I sang along.
SurprisedMom´s last blog ..On the Road Again
I miss the old song. I miss Barkley and Bruno, the guy that carried Oscar’s trash can around. I miss not sitting through 15 minutes of Elmo’s World every episode…
My teenager can’t, literally will not do the dishes until she has her laptop on the ledge above the sink, the landline phone beside her on speaker, and the cell at the ready for texting. Sensory deprivation and information overload. How do these kids function?