Children's Television Workshop

As a child, we didn't have much. My father was working second shift at a local chicken plant, never heard of it? I suggest you Google it; it's hard work. There wasn't much outside monetary influence, so he was lucky to purchase a home from a local bank, and started working towards his part of the American dream. Spending our off times plopped in front of the television are memories that have defined my life.

One morning, after my older sister had gone off to school. Mother sat me down in front of the tv, flipped it on PBS, and changed my life forever. Staring back at me was a man covered in red and blue spandex, with a series of black lines forming a web pattern, catching criminals and doing good in his neighborhood. From that day forward, I sat in front of my television and watched Sesame Street and The Electric Company, for Spiderman.

"What did these children do instead of going to pre-school? Cooney knew that they watched television. But she also knew that “existing shows for 3- through 5-year-old children … did not have education as a primary goal” (Ball & Bogatz, 1970, p. 2). Her idea was to use an interesting, exciting, visually and aurally stimulating television show as an explicitly educational tool “to promote the intellectual and cultural growth of preschoolers, particularly disadvantaged preschoolers,” and to “teach children how to think as well as what to think” (Cook et al., 1975, p. 7).

Little did I know how much impact Joan Ganz Cooney would have on my life. Her work in creating the Children's Television Workshop enhanced the lives of children all over the world. Steve Ditko and Stan Lee's version of Spiderman was instrumental in my learning to read, and about life. I can't think of a more substantial time media has impacted me, it's the defining moment of my life.

REFERENCES

Baran, S. (01/2016). Communication, Media & Society, 9th Edition. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/1259879895/