I t may be the least edifying lesson of the budding school year. A lot of the stuff the networks have programmed to fulfill their stations' obligations has the pedagogical value of one of those paper place mats at a pancake house. Of course, this has nothing, nothing at all, to do with the FCC's decision to leave it up to broadcasters themselves to decide what goes on the curriculum. The other networks just barely pick up the slack. And if there are spiders on you, roll, roll on the ground.
Spiders are icky.
No, yes, maybe and whatever. Much effort on the part of our legislators brought us to this pretty pass. Enacted by Congress in 1990, the Children's Television Act became law without the signature of President Bush, who whined that legislation limiting commercials during kids' shows, prohibiting infomercials for toys and calling for a commitment to educational programming would compromise broadcasters' First Amendment rights. It was one of those doozies of the era, like Reagan's insistence that trees cause pollution. Given the chance, Congress knew better than to pass up an opportunity to score easy points with parents.