Miss Frizzle, LeVar Burton, and Bill Nye

A Letter of Appreciation to the Public School-Induced Parasocial Relationship

By: Kami Kendall

We all got excited in class when it was time to wheel in the TV or when YouTube appeared on the Smartboard. Lights were dimmed, and the blinds were closed, the classroom's attention gladly shifted to the front, and that one annoying kid shushed everybody. Some of us laid on our folded arms like pillows while others got pencils to doodle or pass notes, but we still couldn't resist the fascination that these screen teachers elicited. A moment's respite from interacting and verbalizing with our teachers.

We now know that the teacher was likely hungover or severely underpaid by the school. Regardless, our favorite TV teachers were always at the ready: "Reading Rainbow," "The Magic School Bus," "Schoolhouse Rock!," "Bill Nye the Science Guy," "BrainPOP," "Animaniacs." Some of these parasocial relationships grew stronger than those with the inattentive teachers who tuned them onto the TV.

No matter how hard our heroes fall, from the straight-washing of Miss Frizzle and the white-washing of her students to the recent betrayal of Bill Nye as a Coca-Cola ambassador, they will always hold a special place in our hearts. Hey, maybe they're the reason why I still have an affinity for bite-sized video lessons that transformed into Khan Academy and John Green's Crash Course videos in high school.

Maybe the oversaturation of screens cancels out the need for these TV educators today, but one can hope that kids will somehow still find a moment's respite during the school day as we did.