Are Max and Emmy Junkies? Or, Panic in Dragon Park

One of the reasons I haven't been posting so much lately is that I've been spending time (not, I must admit, an equal amount of time compared to my spouse) taking care of our three-year-old and three-month-old.  Any parent of a child of a certain age is likely to have had to endure hours upon hours of the television show Dragon Tales.  Why this thing is the recipient of a Department of Education grant will have to be the subject of another post.  But, in my sleep-deprived state, I've come to wonder: Is Dragon Tales a parable of drug addiction?  It's not just that the child characters in the show are prone to slipping off to a fantasy land of talking dragons, rainbow canyons, magic, and so on.  It's how compulsively they do so.  The least complication in their lives -- or, indeed, no complication at all, beyond mere boredom -- and they are eagerly, I would say desperately, clutching the magic dragon scale (don't ask) and flitting off to Dragon Land.  Really, for an adult who has little choice but to watch and think about the show for long periods of time, it's almost chilling how strongly these kids seek to escape reality.

I grant you that there are more harmless explanations.  Maybe the show posits that dragons really exist.  Or maybe the whole thing is taking place in some kid's head.  I like the drug explanation better, though.  It ties everything together well -- and, if you've got to watch children's television, it's nice to find food for thought in it.