Nickelodeon, Disney, PBS Kids – What Did We Grow Up Watching?
Media Provided by Maggie S. ’26
Most people know the line that follows “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” Most people remember the peppy instrumentation of the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” theme song. Most people think of a show like Jessie or Henry Danger and immediately remember the days when they ran home from school to watch it on TV. But now, things seem to have changed. These days, theme songs aren’t getting stuck in kids’ heads. Students go home to play video games, not watch TV. These phenomena follow a theme of declining Kids’ TV culture, which is exemplified by the defunding of PBS Kids.
PBS Kids, which airs shows like Daniel Tiger, Super Why! Clifford the Big Red Dog, Sesame Street, and The Magic School Bus have historically been funded by federal grants and the U.S Department of Education. However, PBS Kids’ funds are being meddled with by the Trump administration due to their claim that the channel has a political bias against Republicans. The Trump administration claimed that PBS Kids does not present a “fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens” (Parents.com). Along with this statement, he stated that “any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or endorsement” (The Hill), and that PBS Kids “is worse than CNN and MSNBC put together” (The Hill). However, critics of the current president argue that defunding PBS Kids is a form of censorship.
In light of the decline of Kids TV-Culture, fewer and fewer students are outraged by the defunding of a once globally popular platform.
When asked about their opinions on PBS, some Grace students said they hated PBS Kids and would always turn it off when it came on. Nelly Z. ‘28 simply stated that she did not care about the defunding of PBS Kids, as she never really watched shows from that channel. However, some do care. Andrew K. ‘25 noted that, “It’s a sign that the world is changing and the new generation will have a childhood that is so different from ours. Those shows taught us how to be a community member, the new generation is being robbed of this.” This change is bound to create a divide between current and future generations.
When interviewing students, the consensus was that although we all grew up surrounded by the same shows, we also watched many others. Some students, including Hannah G. ‘28 and Lola de S. ‘28, spoke on the Nickelodeon era of The Thundermans, Henry Danger, iCarly, Victorious, or SpongeBob. These same students and others talked about Disney, and shows such as Liv and Maddie, Bunk’d, Jessie, Stuck in the Middle, or another classic, Mickey Mouse. While these were the most common answers, Ayla B. ‘28, Henry A. ‘28, and Archie A. ‘28 also mentioned other shows and networks, such as Cartoon Network, Pixar, PBS Kids, Teen Titans Go, Super Why!, and Curious George. All of these shows were part of our upbringing, and it is sad to know that most of them aren’t watched anymore.
Today, some kids still return to old classics like Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, and SpongeBob, but it’s clear that there has been a decline in interest in TV. Instead, movies, YouTube videos, and shorts on social media platforms like TikTok have gained popularity. The youth watches, idolizes, and cults over films like K-Pop Demon Hunters and the Minecraft movie. There has never been a bigger divide between what children’s shows are today versus 10 years ago. When asked, Bear Ruxin C. ‘28 said that he believed the shows that kids watch today are useless and brainrot, adding that he does not like them.
As we grow up and become adults, it is important not to lose sight of what helped us reach where we are today. Whether we agree or not with PBS Kids being defunded, it was still a vital part of many people’s upbringing. It can be fun to look back on our childhoods and even rewatch the shows we used to love so much. Hopefully, kids today can one day discover the shows that we watched and be introduced to what truly made our childhoods so special.
Myla I. ‘28 is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette.