Teaching through textbooks vs. TVChildren's education has always been an important goal in our society. The standard form of education for children is through school: teachers, resources, textbooks. This method is somewhat “set in stone” as a reliable method for educating children. As technology continues to advance, however, the ways in which we educate our youth are becoming broader and, at the same time, more complex. Since the invention and normalization of television in the 20th century, children's television programs have been a popular way to teach children basic skills and knowledge, before or during their time in school. With this teaching method comes another level of difficulty that educators learn even more about with each passing day. The goal of children's education varies greatly depending on the genre (in this case, textbooks or television), but it still has the ultimate purpose of informing and strengthening future generations for us as a people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When written, textbooks have one goal: to educate. Children's textbooks sometimes have to take alternative paths during education (compared to standard textbooks) to achieve their goal. Children have a basic education that they must acquire before advancing in school, regardless of whether they care about the subject or not; this places the responsibility on textbook authors to make the information they publish not only informative, but engaging. This comes down to what's in the book, along with its outward appearance. Children's textbooks are visually colorful on the outside and also include a variety of illustrations on the inside, depending on the topic. Even when an illustration is not necessary, authors can include information in visual form to attract their audience. The image provided is an example of a children's textbook cover. Instead of going directly to the heart of the book's arguments, the author asks the question: “What is science?” interest young readers. There are also more illustrations on the cover and presumably more illustrations inside along with the text. The appearance of the book greatly influences how the audience will react to it because the audience is children, who are attracted to fun and bright colors. Educational television programs for children have two focuses, while textbooks have only one: they must not only educate, but also entertain. Children watch television to entertain themselves and avoid the textbook waiting for them at their desk. If a child knew that the goal of a show was to teach, would they choose that show or a completely comedic cartoon? This is where genre gets tricky for writers and producers. Unlike textbooks, which focus solely on education through facts and a little bit of entertainment, television shows are meant to be mostly entertaining with a little bit of education mixed in. One of the most successful producers of educational television programs for children is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In 2014, a national survey was conducted to see how children are being prepared for school and "nearly two-thirds (63%) [report] that PBS KIDS 'helps a lot' in preparing children for school" (PBS). PBS Kids showed a variety of children's programs covering languages, reading, nature, etc. I personally watched a lot of PBS Kids shows as a kid and I have none.