In defense of the merits of television as a learning tool, I present to you this scene, taken directly from my morning:
The children sit watching Tigger and Pooh. Not my preferred programming, but not nearly approaching the reprehensibility of SpongeBob SquarePants or the potentially traumatizing effects of watching Crashbox in toddlerhood (the last time Sec watched this along with her ig brother, she saw the skeleton character who rearranges his bones to do math problems and she told everyone for a week, "When you grow up, your head's gonna fall off!"). Right now, Tigger and Pooh is the only show the two children can agree on, leading me to conclude it surprisingly fills in some gender/ age gap in between the Backyardigans (Seconda's pick) and Magic School Bus (Primo's pick). Point is, they're watching an episode entitled "Darby's Tail" in which the human protagonist, a little girl named Darby, searches for a tail of her own, since all her friends (donkeys, pooh bears and tigers) have tails and she does not.
My daughter ventures confidently, "I have a tail!"
And I explain that children do not have tails (I mean, there are some tragic exceptions to this rule but as my son is a chronic worrier, I opt not to mention this fact).
Later on, Seconda sees fit to impart this new-found wisdom to her brother.
"Primo," she informs him somewhat regretfully, " you don't have a tail!"
To which he replies with classic big brother's exasperation, "I know that! Remember that I have lived longer than you - two years longer - and i have more EXPERIENCE!"
See? TV can be highly educational.
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