Science: Kids Learn Just As Much From 'Sesame Street' As They Do From Preschool

Washington Post- The most authoritative study ever done on the impact of “Sesame Street,” to be released Monday, finds that the famous show on public TV has delivered lasting educational benefits to millions of American children — benefits as powerful as the ones children get from going to preschool.

After “Sesame Street” was introduced, children living in places where its broadcast could be more readily received saw a 14 percent drop in their likelihood of being behind in school. Levine and Kearney note in their paper that a wide body of previous research has found that Head Start, the pre-kindergarten program for low-income Americans, delivers a similar benefit.

The researchers also say those effects probably come from “Sesame Street’s” focus on presenting viewers with an academic curriculum, heavy on reading and math, that would appear to have helped prepare children for school.


Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the phone! You mean to tell kids learn just as much from a walking, talking 7 foot yellow bird as they do from going and playing with blocks with a bunch of other dumb little kids. I can't believe it. I won't believe it. How dare you sit here and tell me that the social interaction that takes place in preschool has no bearing on a child's future. That would mean that mothers pay to ship their children off to a disorganized zoo instead of taking care of them themselves. That would mean that mothers would rather put someone else in charge of their crying, puking child in order to get some free time. I refuse to be told that a woman would rather enjoy an empty house while someone else wipes their child's ass after he/she shits themselves. It's a damn shame that we have become so petty to think that preschool is for the parents benefit. Just completely trivializing the curriculum being put forth by these professional educators. When's the last time 'Sesame Street' did an episode on learning to hold it in? When's the last time 'Sesame Street' taught a whiney little brat to stop pulling hair? Sure, Count Von Count may be able to get a child to count to 5, but he can't teach him to not to throw a lego at Susie's head. I think it's time we give parents more credit. It's either that or prep the foster homes when these parents inevitably go batshit from constantly cleaning up their child's bodily fluids.