Comments on: Why I Won’t Let My Kids Watch the History Channel

By: David Ardoff

David Ardoff — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 17:03:47 +0000

I remember when we got our plastic box with the pushbuttons on top of the TV. I found out that there was a channel devoted to history, Being overjoyed at the time because I gorged my brain on history, especially WWII, Wings! Rome, engineering an Empire!etc. I knew they beat the hell out of Love Boat, Three’s Company, and Silver Spoons and since it was educational my folks never thought twice about it. A couple of years in the Navy and I come back to some weird conglomeration of reality, Game show, pseudoscience a veritable Freakshow! Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

By: Donne

Donne — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 18:54:21 +0000

In reply to BrittonL. Indeed - and, if it was truly about freeing the slaves, why did the Proclamation only free slaves that were held in states espousing the Southern cause, and not the border slave states that were loyal to the Union?

By: BrittonL

BrittonL — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 00:05:11 +0000

In reply to cam. Cam, I know just what you mean! Since that victors of the Civil War are now in charge of educating our children, they have whitewashed that history and sold the war as a valiant attempt by the North to free the Southern slaves. It is almost impossible to get through to people the true and treacherous origins of the war, but I always start by asking the question, "If the war was fought to free the slaves, why did Lincoln issue the emancipation proclamation near the end of the Civil War, and not at the beginning? Why did he wait 4 years?" Very few people can answer this question, and at least it gets them thinking.

By: cam

cam — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 18:52:00 +0000

Great post. Try knowing all the complicated, but virtually unknown history about the War Between the States (aka The Civil War), and listening to 99% of our country screaming about how it was fought because the South wanted to keep its slaves, and the north wanted to free them.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 20:50:55 +0000

Good to know! I don’t watch the History Channel simply because it’s a bunch of reality TV and little to do with history anymore.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 14:19:41 +0000

Wow! Thanks for this eye opener. We watch the history channel a lot and you’re right, I have noticed differences from other sources. Usually we try to learn about the same topic from several different sources and then discuss any differences, but I will be more questioning from not on.

By: Emma Henderson

Emma Henderson — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 13:07:00 +0000

I could not agree more. Unfortunately today the history channel has almost nothing to do with real history. It is mostly reality TV about guys who think they know history.