People seem too quick to judge all contemporary culture as "popular" culture. I find it telling that there are UK contributors here, who's only idea of what constitutes "multi-cultural" to mean the dominant European cultures (ie British, French, German, Italian, etc)

While children's culture has changed (it had to change, just as adult culture has, to adapt to contemporary life), to say that children aren't composing just isn't true. It also seems absolutely ludicrous that children in NYC wouldn't recognize the Cinderella tale.

I think folkies do traffic too much in the cultural nostalgia business, and often leap into a rather hysterical mode when this subject comes up. They aren't the only ones, of course. Harold Bloom has carved out a lucrative career decrying the loss of cultural knowledge among our children. My personal opinion is that his theories amount to nothing more than racist backlash against a world that is opening up to the influences of many cultures' traditions.

No one is suggesting children shouldn't be exposed to poetry, drama, music, folk and fairy tales, etc. But some of you seem quite insistent that children should be exposed more to a traditional Eurocentric canon, rather than to canons from other cultures, and especially, from contemporary works of (haughty sniff) popular culture (unless it is Harry Potter, of course).

What I find bizarre about this whole thread, is that so many people who are not involved directly in the business of educating children, seem to think children aren't being exposed to enough of the European canon, when they are. Even Christmas carols are still sung by school choirs for their winter holiday programs.

And frankly, I find it terrible that there is this cultural arrogance which seems to presume we should *still* be having Christmas programs, which only recognize Christian culture, rather than winter holiday programs, which recognize Jewish, Muslim, and African American holiday traditions as well.

That just seems mean spirited to me.