I agree. Nothing beats you teaching those things to your children. TV is a passive process, and kids need active learning and interaction.
In fact, there was an article in the SCMP's Education supplement at the weekend about the effects of TV/DVD for under 2's!! As yet, not much is known about it as is a relatively new phenomenon, but what astounded me is that the majority of parents who allow their kids to watch it believe it is educational!!!! Look at the rising problem of teenagers and obesity....what is going to happen iin the future if younger and younger kids are glued to the TV??
Personally, I only used to let my baby watch 15 mins of TV every now and then (probs about 3 times a week), so that I could grab a shower. He's now almost 2 and rarely watches the TV.