The End of the 'Rainbow'...but you don't have to take MY word for it... →
This morning as I sleepily drove in to work, in between political bickering and global chaos, there came a story that truly saddened me. Reading Rainbow, after 26 years, has been canceled. It is the end of an era, where passions actually mattered in education. Reading was more than letters and words…it was imagery and humor. Mystical powers of storytelling were truly revered. Reading connected you to your world. A balloon book could be connected to the Macy’s Day Parade, and you could actually see behind the scenes, the making of a magical event. Utter happiness brought to you by PBS was given in half-hour daily doses, right before nap time.
Reading Rainbow made you crave books day and night…pile them in your little arms as high as your nose and rush home from the library to read the latest Maurice Sendak. It made you want to do your own book reports, just like those little gap-toofed kiddos did each episode. It made you want to discover and explore the adult world, in a safe and inviting way. Can Hooked on Phonics give me that??? I don’t think so!
NPR’s report this morning was not just sad because they were the bearers of such news, but because of the way they covered the piece. Dispassioned. Rationalizing a decision that they probably all secretly disagreed with. They sounded defeated and afraid.
“The show’s run is ending, Grant explains, because no one — not the station, not PBS, not the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — will put up the several hundred thousand dollars needed to renew the show’s broadcast rights.”
That’s all it takes? Some rich family to subsidize with their pals? My god, if this was an election, we’d have no problem. A disease? Funding would be poured in.
Well let me tell you Rich Folks. Dispassion is a Disease. We don’t need this right now. Kids need to be encouraged to have a little escapism in their life through the joys of reading, and then apply those ideas to their reality. What other shows have been able to pull that off in such a wonderful way?
They say, “research has shown that teaching the mechanics of reading should be the network’s priority.” WHAT research??? They don’t even source that info. Can’t we at least find out who it is that is sucking humanity out of learning?
So, RIP Reading Rainbow. Yes, 26 years is a great success for any television show. 26 years of touching lives and encouraging families share their passions together. All I can say is I hope you come back. The world won’t be the same without your sandcastles and butterflies.
