The recent trend of school cancellations, and the sudden transition to online education that followed, had me reminiscing about my own elementary school days. Home computers were still somewhat of a rarity during the 1980s, and portable devices were pretty much limited to those few rich kids whose parents went and blew hundreds of dollars on the first handheld television sets. People didn’t seem all too stressed out about overindulging on “screen time” back then, I guess since parents were expected to throw their kids outside to play in traffic every few hours.
That being said, if any of you parents out there might be getting a little concerned about the amount of screen time Junior’s been logging lately, take a deep breath. In my childhood, introducing technology into the classroom was, without exception, a good thing. Students eagerly plowed through their assignments in anticipation of having a few extra minutes to play Oregon Trail on the good ol’ Apple 2G desktop. And without fail, the entire class would break out in a buzz of excitement whenever some specialist teacher showed up pushing this bad boy down the hall:
Back then, Health class was a mandatory part of our public school curriculum. While Gym class was dedicated to the basics of exercise, fitness and dodgeball, in Health we focused on the importance of not smoking, not catching AIDS, and proper nutrition. And even though the vaunted Food Guide Pyramid we studied has long since been replaced by My Plate, the fundamentals of a proper diet haven’t changed too much. As an adult I still do my best to maintain a healthy diet, and a good bit of credit for that is due to my my sweatpants-clad elementary school Health teacher, for all the times she showed up to pop in a VHS tape of “High Feather”:
Remember this one? Yeah, you probably don’t. This public broadcasting TV show was limited to a single season of 10 episodes, centered around a small group of ethnically diverse kids. The mixed group was attending a rural summer camp together, and even though they never came right out and said that the place was a weight-loss camp, why else would the nurse insist on marching kids onto the scale straight from the bus? These pre-teens were shocked to discover that Camp High Feather only served healthy food in the dining hall: no candy, soda, sugar or salt.
But of course, no 1980s educational video series would be complete without a few very special episodes. Even in the pilot, “Deep Water Test,” we learn about the importance of asking for help when one of the boys nearly drowns trying to teach himself how to swim. And who could forget Jacqueline Allen’s amazing performance in “Ballerina,” playing the role of Leslie Reynolds, a talented performer who starves herself to achieve the perfect dancer’s body?
For me and my generation, elementary school was a long time ago. I probably could’ve gone the entire rest of my life without ever thinking of “High Feather” again, if only it hadn’t been for that pesky Coronavirus nonsense. In the midst of all this social distancing I’d been making an effort to cook for myself more, and there I was, whipping up a pan of red beans and rice. In an instant, my mind flashed back to a sad tale called “Going Home,” an episode of “High Feather” that I’d seen exactly once. In that installment, a boy named Tom is sent home after his father is laid off, and the family can no longer afford the camp fees. Tom immediately pitches in to help out– armed with his new knowledge, he educates his family members on how to maintain a balanced diet. His crowning achievement? A huge meal of rice and beans– a great source of protein, and much cheaper than meat!
So you see, there’s probably something to be said for getting a little liberal with the screen time guidelines, especially during exceptional times like these. Parents, don’t feel bad about throwing on your sweatpants and pulling up yet another streaming video– you never know what sort of helpful information might get stuck in your kids’ brains. The way I see it, as long as you’re not trying to pass off “Tiger King” as educational programming, you’re doing just fine.
And hey, if you really get desperate for quality educational content, our friends at The Flopcast have apparently uploaded the entire series of “High Feather” onto their Youtube channel…