When I was a kid, I remember getting up in the morning, going into the family room, and turning on "Sesame Street" for a fun-filled half hour of dancing puppets that taught me all about numbers, letters, words, manners and life. After that, it was cartoon time where I watched "The Smurfs," "Muppet Babies," "My Little Pony," "Rainbow Bright," "Scooby Doo," "The CareBears," "Gummy Bears" and many others. A few weeks ago, I turned on the television for a chill time and decided to watch some cartoons out of amusement. I couldn't believe how much had changed since I was a child. There was "Sponge Bob Square Pants," Japanese anime (which was very violent) and a few others that disturbed me on the complexity level of the show.

What happened to the good old days when cartoons taught you how to count and how to be a nice person? If you were a child of the 80's, you watched "Captain Planet" and learned how to help the environment. You watched "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and learned that pizza was the best food ever and that good always wins over evil. You watched "Carmen Sandiego" and got knowledge of the world and the different states. You watched "Sharon, Lois and Bram's Elephant Show" and were shown how to deal with having surgery, meeting new people and solving problems with others.

Then the 90's came around and kids' shows were upgraded. There were "X-Men," "Ren and Stimpy," "Bevis and Butthead" and good old constant Barney the Purple Dinosaur who sang about loving each other and how hugs heal the world. Nickelodeon, the station that brought you "Pete and Pete" right with "Eureka's Castle," started a Saturday night run of popular shows among slightly older kids that included "Clarissa Explains It All," "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?," "Roundhouse," "All That" and "Alex Mac." Classic shows like "You Can't Do That On Television" with green slime, "Double Dare" and "The Muppet Show" were cut and replaced with cartoons that were very violent, and yet were geared toward young audiences. What was the world coming to?

I remember the Disney Afternoon with "Tale Spin," "Duck Tales" and "Darkwing Duck." ABC started airing "TGIF" with shows like "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Boy Meets World" and "Step By Step" --shows meant to help adolescents deal with real life situations and adult-like decisions.

Shows and cartoons now are not as substantial as they were when we were younger. There are not as many lessons being taught, and classic children's television has been replaced by violent and shallow cartoons. Hopefully the networks will realize this eventually and bring back shows like "Salute Your Shorts" and "Hey Dude," not to mention slightly older shows like "Facts of Life," "Growing Pains" and "Punky Brewster" -- shows that really helped kids learn about life. Children's television has changed, and sometimes not for the better, but hey, if the kids like it and they learn something from it, who am I to complain?