Promotional Image, Sesame Street, 1970
“The damage that this program…is doing to children is really frightening to me, but nobody sees it. Why is it dangerous? Because we ignore the fact again that the ends don’t justify the means. On this program, elements come at children at such a rapid rate they hardly have time to absorb, let alone think about what it is.
“There is a tremendous amount of noise. That is the auditory input is very loud and constant. The basic approach is one of great sophistication — an adult extrapolated concept of what a Broadway-type person would think a child likes — a pseudo-childness reflecting the vision of a grown up merchandiser, certainly not an educational psychologist…”
First Lady Pat Nixon with Sesame Street’s Big Bird, 1970 | U.S. National Archives
She goes on to say Sesame Street may foster a generation of drug takers and/or increase drug dependency in Generation X.
“But, more than that, we are really fostering a new generation of drug takers and I will tell you why. There is a kind of keyed-up quality that these children develop from watching this program over and over…The whole matrix of what this program conveys I can see furthering another generation needing drugs and having drug dependency even greater than this one –because of the restlessness that is fostered; the lack of discipline, the lack of critical judgment, and what literally will become a fear of a moment of quiet and silence.”
Was Sesame Street Bad?
Anecdote
Did you know that Sesame Street was considered a real problem for segregationists? In early 1970, the State Commission for Educational Television banned the show from Mississippi’s state educational TV system. The commission claimed that Mississippi was not ready for a program in which black, Latino, and whites all played happily together. Their ban was reversed after it made national news.
Wow. She was wrong.
Good for us and Cookie Monster
She had to have been referring to this animated skit of the rubber band that counts to 10…. cuz it seemed scary & acid trippy to me, even at 4 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0aWP3IaBZ4
Perhaps so! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
What? I loved Sesame Street. It modeled kindness and tolerance, which I suppose could have upset older conservatives who didn’t like their world changing. As a kids, we didn’t know our culture before everything morphed rapidly in the 1960s. As an adult, seeing Mad Men or rewatching shows like All In The Family, I can see the status quo that so many were afraid to lose.
I grew up in an LA suburb with hippie-ish parents and never knew any different.
I loved Sesame Street..as a minority immigrant it made me believe in New York and America as a good place for everyone. There was absolutely nothing negative about that show except that Perhaps it was too idealistic. I have observed Generation X to have evolved into one of the most responsible and dedicated generation groups in terms of commitment to family and work. Also I find this generation X to be the most maligned and misunderstood while baby boomers and millenials are spoken of in very positive light. The success of these recent decades were built on the backs of GenX. Let’s see what millenials and post millenials do with it.
I agree, MommaX!! I loved the show so much. It made me so happy to watch it. I learned so much from it. It was entertaining and incredibly hopeful. I loved it when they gathered on the steps of the brownstone. I wanted to live in a place just like that.
How bizarre. I loved it as a child and found it funny, engaging and thoughtful. On the other hand I detested the commercial kids shows as I felt they really talked down to kids, were repetitive and banal. Intersecting isn’t it that as an adult can fit my feelings to the word ‘patronising’!
I like your blog and will return ?
It is bizarre. Imagine how she might feel about the Courage the Cowardly Dog or kids stumbling across adults cartoons. [Sigh] I loved Sesame Street and always will. Thanks for stopping by!
Isn’t it amusing how clueless the ‘experts’ were back then? One of my clearest early-childhood memories was my mom sitting me in front of the TV in 1969, telling me I have to watch this new kids show on PBS called ‘Sesame Street’. It was awesome. And I’m glad to say I’m no drug addict.
Unfortunately, Sesame Street has gone down the tubes since Elmo took over. We actually discouraged our kids from watching it. Too PC and not much educational value.
I’m no drug addict, either. The show never made me want to do anything but live in community and peace with people who were different than me. In fact, I never saw them as different. I saw them as interesting and fun and that together our lives could be magical. What this country needs is Old School Sesame Street. =)
I guess Elmo maybe did ruin it. My kids never liked it — never wanted to watch it. I’d sit them in front of it and they’d just move on so quickly. They have no attachment to any of those sweet old characters.