In the second of part Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman presents how television has shaped the modern public discourse of education. Postman argues that teaching through the medium of television teaches kids to love school only if it is entertaining like TV. He mentions the effects of a show like “Sesame Street” and how our view of being educated has changed and must be “entertaining” like the TV show. I agree with his claim since I watched “Sesame Street” and did not acquire any form of education while viewing this educational program. Postman secondly argues that education through the television set and has transformed into an atmosphere where learning must be fun and amusing. His evidence of the Philadelphia experiment illustrates how TV has changed education when school curriculum is encountered outside of television. I agree with Postman and believe that education through television is inconsistent and does not effectively teach students the intended material; since I myself have been exposed to educational programs on television such as, “Bill Nye the Science Guy” in the classroom. But I also disagree with the author and believe education does not have to be entertaining in order for it to be effective by proving how some images, such as power points in the classroom, can be used as a means other than amusement. Just because schooling has the power to be fun does not mean that teachers must find it necessary to create that same atmosphere in the classroom.
Education through the medium of television only teaches kids to love school if it is entertaining and fails to actually teach the viewers the intended material. Postman explains how the way we teach has changed to make curriculum entertaining in order for our youth to understand the material. Since these educational programs presented on TV are so amusing, the first time something does not catch our interests, we change the channel. This idea that everything must be entertaining in...