Language and kid's shows.

I am writing this as a true stream of conscious piece. I am not formatting, or grammar checking. I am just writing to get it down. Hey! It's my Blog. Deal.

I have mentioned before that I am a lover of language. I believe it is important to be able to express myself clearly. I too believe it is important to teach our children to communicate well.

So for this pet peeve, I am going to openly attack some beloved friends of my children and my own past.

I have a three year old son. He simply loves to watch TV as most Young Americans do. Among his favorite shows a few are great. Some however, really push my buttons as a parent.Let me break this down as a list of shows I have issues with.

Sesame Street:

Alright, I know I just stepped on a few toes. (see Disclaimer.) Bear with me. I love the show at large. When we were kids, we learned to count with a lovable vampire. I learned to share, be kind, and read from Big Bird, Ernie, Oscar, and even Snuffy.

A few years back though a new character was introduced that changed things for me in a bad way. This little, adorable, red monster loves to sing and dance. He loved to talk to his pet fish. He also had a problem with personal pronouns. This little guy speaks incessantly in the third person. It is always, "Elmo loves you." It is never "I."

So whats the problem. I don't really know. It just hits my button. I just believe we should be teaching our kids to speak while we are teaching them to read and count. Just once, I wish i could hear Big Bird correct the little red fart and tell him that we use I, and My instead of using our name.

I never said these were all reasonable or anything, but they are after all my Pet Peeves.

Wonderpets and Loony Toons:

I am sure some of you who have no kids are going to have to Google one of these. I'll give you a brief overview just so you can make it through the blog.

Wonderpets is a strangely repetitive children's show which features 3 class room pets that travel the glove to rescue animals in trouble. Same tune each episode with new lyrics sung badly. True Baby Crack if ever such a thing existed.

Loony tunes of course are the fun-loving band of regulars. Slapstick comedy put to the music of great composers.

So what's my problem with these shows? Well, I have the same problem with two characters. Each Character features a character that has never learned to pronounce their Rs.

Huh?

Think Elmer Fudd. Hunting "Wabbits." Wonderpets has a little duck with the same issue. It is probably cute to a lot of parents. Many Young children like these characters because they share this affliction. I am sure this is one reason the writers have put these little guys in the shows in the first place.

Okay, so why is it a problem?

Well, I have a problem with a show normalizing something that we should be trying to fix. I again an sure this sounds insensitive. They have speech impediments right? I don't know. I am not a speech pathologist. I leave that to the pros. (Elizabeth, let me know eh?) I do know that every friend I had as a youth who had this problem eventually "outgrew" it.

Why do we want our children to hear this as normal and then try to train them to hear the sounds? I simply feel this is a problem. It bugs me. It is my pet peeve. It is not necessarily reasonable. I guess it would be like having a character pick his nose or wet himself as part of his normal persona. It sends a mixed message.

I hate that this entry is so poorly written. I simply sat down to write. I let the words come. I know the grammar is bad. I recognize this would be a poorly graded paper. Part of me likes the irony of that. I am writing about proper linguistic communication and I am writing like some uneducated dolt. Maybe I'll rewrite it some day. Maybe I'll format it and make it all pretty. I'll re-read it and make certain my grammar is up to snuff. I doubt it though. The more I think about it, the more I thing perhaps leaving it as is will reinforce the point I was trying to make in the first place. Who knows.

Hey, What shows or characters gut under your skin? Why. I never said it had to make sense to everyone. What gets your goat? Go ahead and gripe. You'll feel better.... Really.