How Is This Educational? Yo Gabba Gabba!
May 17th, 2008 | By moneyking | Category: Business
Hello Readers! The Money King is on vacation and will be back in a few days. So, in the meantime, I will be filling in.
For your consideration: How Is This Educational? Yo Gabba Gabba!
Has anyone heard of the children’s TV show Yo Gabba Gabba?
Today is the first time that I did. My wife came downstairs wearing a Yo Gabba Gabba t-shirt, and I’m like “WTF is Yo Gabba Gabba!???”.
Well, off to Wikipedia I went, and here’s what I got:
Hosted by a human character named DJ Lance Rock, the series features a mix of live-action segments with cartoonish costumed characters Muno the red cyclops, Foofa the pink flower bubble, Brobee the little green one, Toodee the blue cat-dragon and Plex the robot, plus many short animated sketches and musical numbers.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_Gabba_Gabba!)
Great, this sounds like another knockoff of Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, or a million other children’s television shows. I decided I’d like to see a clip from this show since my wife’s shirt had such crazy characters on it. Here is the first piece of educational wisdom I pulled up on YouTube:
Yep, that’s right, this is our very own Biz Markie, hosting a segment in Yo Gabba Gabba! called Biz’s Beat.
WTF are we teaching our kids!!??
It’s no wonder that the test scores of the children in the United States are going down the tubes. Other countries are spending their time, money, and resources educating their children. However, Nickelodeon feels that our kids would be better off in life if only they learned how to beat box from Biz Markie. No wonder why teacher’s jobs are so hard. They need to spend their time “un-teaching” the stupid stuff kids pick up from home TV and come into the classroom with.
‘Nuf said.
Keywords: yo gabba gabba!, children, biz markie
What?? No video to “Party In My Tummy”? You’ve seen nothing bad…until you’ve seen that one!! Horrid!
Hah! I did watch the party in my Tummy Video too this morning, and almost posted it in the original post. It is pretty ridiculous!!
And now, for your viewing pleasure, here it is!
My 2 1/2 year old daughter loves Yo Gabba Gabba! I wanted to hate it, but there’s something about it, I don’t know what it is. Remember H.R. Puffenstuff? That didn’t make much sense either
Elizabeth’s last blog post: How do you handle kids and chores?
lol, yes I definitely now feel more stupid for having watched those two videos. If I had kids, I don’t think I would show them something like that. I have a feeling I am going to be a bit overbearing on my kids someday. oh well, it will suck for them not for me, my kids will be great!
David Carter’s last blog post: Why the Gas Tax Should Be RAISED
True, what are we teaching our kids.
But, Sesame street, tellytubbies and the like. Just the new thing for people of my generation to say “What are those kids watching!”
Cindy’s last blog post: Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival 18 May 2008
I have to admit, my 1 year old watches this. DJ Lance freaks me out. My favorite are the songs like “Don’t hit your friends. Don’t hit, don’t hit your friends”. I guess the song writers get paid by the hour and they’re trying to keep expenses down.
Jeremy’s last blog post: 10 Ways to (More Than) Double Your Tax Rebate Check
Yo Gabba isn’t educational. It’s fun.
I think the real problem with the children in the United States is that their parents rely on TV to educate their kids in the first place.
At first I thought it looked stupid. But then my kids loved it. I actually started sing it with them and making things fun. Like pick it up song. I could actually get my kids to clean, and party in my tummy, they would never try any kids of food. Now they at least try it. I think it is very cute and educational for early childhood. Now as far as Tella Tubbies go, they don’t even speak english or what ever they say. Now that one should be band.
if you can get kids to clean, then you’re a money king! straight up.
Yo Gabba Gabba could have been so retro cool but instead it’s simply LAME, no creativity or intelligent thought has gone into it beyond the initial creation of characters and costumes. I like all the other shows on Noggin, they’re geared toward keeping the youngest minds entertained all day because like it or not, it’s a sad, hard fact that parents literally cannot afford to stay at home and regularly interact with their children. Only welfare bums can “afford” to do that, the working class has been increasingly undermined for years with economic hardship (increased taxation of the middle class, inflation decreasing purchasing power) that has made it impossible for them to raise their children the old fashioned way, with one parent running the household while the other works. It’s a shame, and their children suffer, obviously, by being subjected to total mind-numbing crap like Yo Gabba Gabba.
Yo Gabba Gabba is great viewing for toddlers. It delivers simple, repetitive, and colorful messages about proper behavior, hygiene, manners, social skills, etc… that young minds can absorb and repeat. The show encourages singing and dancing. They also make the show easy for adults to watch by inviting guest stars who are pop culture figures from the 80s and 90s (people mom and dad would be familiar with). They also make most of their music using 8 bit sounds you probably remember from your original nintendo system - another staple of the 80s and early 90s. I honestly don’t get some of you people being critical of this show. You have either never watched it, or you’re a rigid “linear thinker”. By “linear thinker” I mean that for a show to make sense to you, it has to follow a plotline. This show is theme based, not plot based. There is a central theme in every episode (that is announced at the beginning of each episode) that all of the games, dances, songs, cartoons, and activities emphasize. I hope that explanation helps some of the people here get over some of their prejudices and let their kids watch this show - because after all, the show is for them, not you. Toddlers are lateral (zig-zag) thinkers. Don’t believe me? Sit a 30 month old down and try to get him to watch your favorite disney movie from beginning to end. If he lasts 5 minutes without trying to get up and do something else, then he’s on ritalin. Bad example? How about a 48 piece puzzle. I can almost guarantee you he will be bored with it 60 seconds after you dump the pieces out of the box. Yo Gabba Gabba has snippits that rarely last more than 2.5 minutes, so they have a better chance at holding your kid’s attention. This show is specifically for toddlers, and in that category, it’s one of the best shows out there. As far as the “party in my tummy” thing goes - yeah, it’s wacky, but so are kids, and it reinforces that you should eat your veggies… and does it in a fun, non-authoritative way. Most parents would welcome help in this form. It’s not mind- numbing, it’s attention-holding, and it attempts to teach kids the things they should be learning at that age.