I've been meaning to write this post for a while. Just note, I don't
mean this entirely seriously because I know this is one step shy of
wrapping tinfoil around my head, but it is slightly off-putting.
On
the surface Super Why! seems like a great educational kids show. It's
all about reading, learning letters, sounds, even rhyming. However,
while watching the show with my 5 year old son I began to realize
something very disturbing about the program.
This is a clip of the song the Super Readers sing when they complete their mission. See if you can spot the problem.
The
mission of these Super Readers is to "change the story" and equates the
original intention of the author as a "problem." The message being sent
to children is that censorship is something to be encouraged and
something that should be actively pursued. That if you do not like the
story, you simply change it until it conforms with your personal
ideology rather than try to learn from and about the author's
original intent.
I tried to overlook this and focus on
the reading skills being taught, so we watched another episode. Looking
at this show with a new lense, I caught something more disturbing in the
opening song. Pay close attention 23 seconds in.
Tsk, tsk, tsk PBS kids.
Holy hell, you are totally right! Now I feel like I need to deprogram my daughter after every episode. Although she has been off of her Super Why kick for a few months now, maybe because she senses the inappropriateness of the message.
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