With the pervasiveness of television, especially for children, visual literacy is a growing concern. Television should be regarded as part of a potential solution to the country's need for improved education. "Sesame Street" has proved that children do learn from television, that active interaction is not always necessary for learning, and that children have developed different expectations about learning. Children's acquisition of the basic cognitive operations may be changing due to television, particularly when animation is used. "The Electric Company's" method of teaching reading, for instance, uses animated cartoons to show the connection between the written and spoken word, a concept not so easily explained in the classroom. Abstractions may also be communicated without the use of language. Given the influence of television, certain issues need first consideration: a reevaluation of cognitive growth in young children; an analysis of the nature of visual literacy acquired from television; and an examination of exactly how television communicates, influences, and causes change, and what its long-term effects are likely to be. (LS)