Tales are Better then Tinky Winky

by whizkidfortesback

This is a poem to be read during TV-Turnoff Week. No, I did not write this because I hate the Teletubbies, but I wrote this because they limit a child's linguistic development, which is why I don't like them.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teletubbies, but I endorse the virtues embraced in this year's TV-Turnoff Week on April 21-27. According to a Wake Forest University Study, the characters limit children's growing vocabulary. The research influenced me to write this poem about the reason why books (in print) are superior over Teletubbies. I wrote this not out of hate (it's too strong an emotion), but of dislike in terms of educational value.

Why haven't most kids expand their vocabulary,

Why television is their new reality,

Why bother with Laa-Laa and Dipsy,

Same with Po and Tinky-Winky?

The TV is not meant for viewing,

The A-Double-P recommends eschewing

Seeing a box of what the Teletubbies do

For their young children up to two.

Parents are their first professors

Rather than Tubby-Image-Projectors,

Otherwise, children withhold the pain

Of a Tinky-Winky Brain.

No wonder we have slightly illiterate kids

Because of what their parents did,

Because of watching too much Tinky-Winky,

They have a limited range of vocabulary.

So, why not unplug the Tubby-TV,

Lead the kids on the road to literacy,

Use proper grammar from a long list

Instead of maturing them into illeists?

So read to them the story of Thumbelina

Instead of presenting to them Laa-Laa

Read them tales of thumbs and pinkies,

Instead of showing them Tinky-Winky.