Sesame Street vs Hoosiers

I was debating this morning what is more educational for Reese to watch - Sesame Street or Hoosiers?

Seriously.

Sesame Street is, well, Sesame Street. It is one of the most scrutinized and tested television shows ever. Academics and sociologists and other scholars have weighed the merits of having children watch the show before it even aired it's first show in 1969. The book Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell says researchers from the University of Massachusetts and the University of Kansas recontacted close to 600 children whose TV viewing as preschoolers were monitored. The kids were now in high school and the researchers found that the kids who watched Sesame Street did better in high school English, math and science than the kids who did not watch Sesame Street. That's a pretty amazing thing. A television show had a positive lasting effect on children 10 to 15 years after watching it!

But Hoosiers is one of the all-time best movies - let alone one of the best sports movies. The values of hard work, sacrifice, humility, teamwork, self-confidence, underdog story - and the classic David vs Goliath match-up in state finals - are values everyone should cherish.

Reese is too young to really soak it all in, the TV show or the movie. I probably shouldn't even let her watch TV as much as I already do. She needs to learn to enjoy herself without outside stimulus. She needs to break away from the current dependence on electronics. She needs to appreciate life around her, not what is beamed into the living room.

But Hoosiers is a really good movie.

And she was coloring anyway.

So I watched Hoosiers.