"Postcards from Buster" the Bunny Creates Nationwide Flap

Postcards from Buster is a television show on the PBS Network. The show is a spinoff of the popular,long-running show Arthur, which is about a young aardvark, his family, and their friends, who are all different kinds of animals. In "Postcards," Buster Baxter travels around the country with his dad and his video camera, and sends video postcards of his adventures to his mom (his parents are divorced). The videos are live-action, but Buster is a cartoon character. Each week, the 8 year-old bunny and his dad go to a different place, where Buster meets non-animated people, who introduce him to the local scene and to people from varying cultural backgrounds.

Controversy has been brewing this year, since the news came out that in one episode, called "Sugartime!," Buster goes to Vermont and learns about making maple syrup. Buster is visiting Karen, who used to work with his mom. Karen's partner is a woman named Gillian, and they have kids. Most of the episode is spent on Buster playing with the kids and watching syrup being made (and eaten). Margaret Spellings, the new U.S. Secretary of Education,who has the difficult task of struggling with the nation's troubled public education system ahead of her, wrote a letter on her second day on the job to PBS CEO Pat Mitchell to state her "strong and very serious concerns" about the "Postcards From Buster" episode. She said, "the...agreement that PBS is using to support these programs is designed to prepare preschool and elementary age children for school. A principal focus of the law authorizing funding for the Ready-To-Learn program is facilitating student academic achievement...'the television programs that must fulfill this mission are to be specifically designed for this purpose, with the highest attention to production quality and validity of research-based educational objectives, content, and materials.'... We believe the "Sugartime!" episode does not come within these purposes or within the intent of Congress, and would undermine the overall objective of the Ready-To-Learn program -- to produce programming that reaches as many children and families as possible. Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode. Congress' and the Department's purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television."

One commentator said of the episode, "There's no making out on the couch, no stolen kisses while Buster's not looking. Other than Buster's comment about having a lot of moms, the kids don't even mention their parents."

According to the Current website, the show has been broadcast, despite the decision by PBS and the majority of public TV stations that it would intrude into parents' prerogative to supervise the moral instruction of their children. PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell announced this week that she would not seek another term in her position. Last week PBS had announced that there will be a review of program and content policies. The process, which was recommended by Mitchell, will include a "review of the editorial standards that guide PBS in its programming and content development decisions."

Postcards from Buster
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