The Agony of Children's Entertainment

Last Thanksgiving, we rented a car in South Carolina that was equipped with satellite radio. Since we had to drive about 45 minutes to our destination, we settled on a kids' radio station as the most acceptable to a majority of the car's occupants. The adult votes were split between sports radio and gangsta rap, so the kids of course won. If you've ever listened to children's music, you know that about 85% of it is completely didactic and/or irritating. Even aging pop stars are prone to lyrics like, "Brush your teeth, brush your teeth, wash your face, wash your face and SPIN AROUND!" And I cast this net over The Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, Green Day, whoever it is making children's music these days. (Okay, that was an unfair dig at Green Day, but you have to admit that Know Your Enemy is both highly catchy and totally didactic)

Mr. Scobie noted, as he has on other occasions, that a lot of children's entertainment seems to be based on what adults think kids should like. This is certainly true of many of the picture books being published these days. They are painstakingly, beautifully illustrated, but are usually about time travelling to watch Hank Aaron or about seeing Mama's quilt finally finished or about growing a sunflower. They are impossibly dull.

And in fact, our kids tend to steer clear of this tripe, either through natural instinct or because its one of the few areas where we remain in control of their habits. Unfortunately, this has not extended to their TV viewing interests. For no discernible reason, they both tolerate - no enjoy, even demand - Caillou, the preachiest, most annoying cartoon I have ever seen. I can barely be in the room when its on. And I would even let them watch 400 other things if they wanted, including NASCAR races or Whale Wars. Caillou is all about making a scarecrow, or taking a car ride, or returning a library book. Intellectual death. Is this an early form of rebellion?