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My problem is with just about all cartoons and products that claim they are “educational.” Study up on study has proven that they do nothing for a child. They may pick up a few Spanish words from Dora. They won’t learn to speak Spanish.
That's my pet peeve too, for that kind of "education". Picking up a few words out of context and not related to the grammar, kids become delusional that they know Spanish. But then, alright, you learned how to say "abre" (open!), now how do you changed it to "it is open" or "he/she opened it?" You learn "vamonos" (let's go) but it does not help you to flex the verb "ir" (to go) in any other form, you won't be able to say "I go, he goes" etc without digging deep into the grammar, into conjugation tables, into talking to native speakers all the time, into watching movies and reading books. And those useless words for wild animals, how about a "plate", a "toothbrush", all the things we use daily. Oh, I know, it's boring.
Some argue that it "at least" gives an idea of different languages, but it creates perconceptions which pulls the curious kids away from reality. Kids keep wondering how do they say "I go" after learning "let's go" and without proper guidance, they invent their own version of the grammar. Then, when exposed to reality, they resist and persist in their misconception. They get shocked how little it's worth what they got so proud of:
Johnny: - Spanish? I know Spanish! Abre! Vamonos!
Juanito: - "De veras, ¿sabes hablar español?, ¡no me digas!, d'ac cuate, ¿que no te vas a jugar conmigo ahora?..."
Johnny: -- "?HUH??"
I relate this problem to aligning the quality of our public education, including any educational efforts, by the lowest denominator, of the teachers being afraid to "offend" someone with low grades etc etc. That's relatively novel and counterproductive idea. One can introduce some fun element into learning, but there is no way to make it painless, kids still have to flex their brains to learn anything. Which those McEducashun efforts are really no help to.
Does Dora no longer have Swiper the Fox? He's certainly an element of conflict.
Not in the way it would be in real life. He's a thief, he steals but never gets punished. In the show, they stop him by saying the "magic word" 3 times before he snatches the loot. I think it's dangeriously misguiding in terms of dealing with real life's swipers. The good guys always get the stolen goods back which isn't exactly the case in real life either.
Late to this, but we watch Dora (on DVD), and there are some mild conflicts, mainly because Swiper the fox is always trying to steal stuff. But some of the episodes we have feature a wicked witch or some character that starts out "mean." I don't know how much conflict you can expect from programming like this. It's for preschoolers.
slightly OT, but can you get Mister Rogers on DVD? My oldest liked watching him on PBS but, at least in our area, the reruns are no longer aired.
yes, you can. We have two of them. My older DD (3.5) is totally hooked on one of them and watches the same two episodes frequently, as well as a short tour of a teddy bear factory. I don't think of most "education" programming as really all that, but Mister Rogers truly is educational, in a different way.
As a former preschool educator and a mom, I am pretty much fed up with PBS tv for kids, especially in the last 10 or more years.
These programs, like the OP mentioned, are void of anything but 'being nice' to each other (how to get along without upsetting anyone). What happened to learning something?
The worst thing PBS did was dumb down Sesame Street. It's original target audience was 4, 5 year olds (mainly those who did not go to preschool). Now they have made it to the level of a 2 year old. The characters are not allowed to be true to themselves. Cookie Monster has to eat veggies. Where is Animal? (the best wacky character ever). Telly is obsessive compulsive (heh, heh, where are the triangles?).
I am not much impressed with the New Electric Company.
The best shows on PBS is probably Between The Lions and Reading Rainbow.
If your kids only watch Nick, they aren't getting much 'education.'
We all grew up fine without Barney and Dora. I watched Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. These kids are toddlers. They won't remember what they watched this time tomorrow, let alone expect the world to be peaches and cream sweet. Their brains aren't that developed yet.
I wouldn't worry about it. Personally I'm glad my boys outgrew those shows, they were too cutesy for me. They do outgrow it though. Don't worry
As far as Mr Roger's...I always felt there was something creepy about him that they never found out. Just seemed...wierd, the whole show and him. So I never had my kids watch that.
Lets see if I can remember: We watched, Out of the Box, Hi 5, Paz, Sesame, Noddy, Brum.. there were others, but I can't recall the names.
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, ¡no me digas!
, d'ac cuate, ¿que no te vas a jugar conmigo ahora?..." 
