Long before I taught third grade, I was a kindergarten teacher. And, not surprisingly, like nearly every other kindergarten teacher you will meet, I have more than a nodding acquaintance with the popular essay by Robert Fulghum entitled “All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Fulghum wove into his piece such simple gems as: Play fair, share everything, put things back where you found them and live a balanced life.
Being in a classroom with five year-olds every day, I could relate well to what Fulghum was saying. Not only the life lessons he promoted, but the more practical skills as well. Teaching my students how to correctly use scissors would affect their adult lives whether they were destined to be a famous hair stylist or simply clip coupons to save a few dollars at the grocery store. Learning to look where they were going would not only make them keen observers of the world around them, but (hopefully) better drivers as well!
Naturally, success breeds imitation. Soon, both heart felt and comical variations of Fulghum’s essay began popping up everywhere. As a "card carrying" Baby Boomer, I couldn’t help but sometimes muse that a great deal of what my generation has learned has come from watching TV. Granted, Newton Minow had declared the medium a vast wasteland back in 1961, but like it or not, most of the Boomers can trace many of their "touchstone" moments to the flickering box.
We began our lives in front of bulky cabinets, fitted with screens displaying grainy, wavy, black and white images. From the original five or six channels we grew up with to the more than 100 available today—I can’t deny, that along the way, I, along with the rest of my generation, gleaned a few valuable insights into life while watching the tube.
Milestones such as Kennedy’s assassination, the Beetles on the Ed Sullivan Show and Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the surface of the Moon are forever etched into our collective consciousness. But some of the regular shows we watched weekly also made an impact as well.
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