At first, I didn't know what I wanted to research and write about at all. I started looking in the online data bases. After about an hour, I found an article from Newsweek about the popular children's television show Sesame Street. I found it interesting that it was originally made in order to show children that people of different races could live together. From this, I thought I could research more on how children’s shows stereotype characters to teach children how society works at a young age. Here is my annotated bibliography from the Sesame Street article.
Alston , Joshua, and Lisa Guernsey . "The Show That Counts." Newsweek 01 Jun 2009: p53-57. Web. 2 Feb 2011.
Sesame Street is one of the most important educational children’s television programs to date. Since its first début in 1969, ratings have dropped, but Alston and Guernsey argue “Sesame Street [has] changed the world, one letter at a time.” It has boosted children’s test scores and bridged racial gaps by creating an educational show with different races living together. Now produced in 16 different countries, it relates to all children even those who live in poverty and through the HIV crisis. The show has even tried to help the conflict in the Middle East by showing Israeli and Palestinian Muppets that cooperate. By responding to major events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the program wants to help kids overcome fears and cope with difficult situations. Viewers have criticized the show for it stereotypes and disregard of some ethnic groups; however, Sesame Street features kids with thriving with illnesses and disabilities. Recently producers have launched clips of new and old episodes on the internet, but they still worry about the health of the show. Alston and Guernsey wonder if Sesame Street will continue to reach audiences and maintain its generations of learning.
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