I co-created ‘Blues Clues’ — here’s what worries me about today’s content landscape.

As a kids’ show creator, I do formative research on every series I make, to ensure that I am meeting my goals — both from an educational and entertainment standpoint. I know how smart kids are, and I want to be sure that I’m putting a show out in the world that elevates kids, empowers them, makes them laugh and gives them something to think about.

But it takes time to make a series this way.

“ Blue’s Clues ” was founded in kindergarten readiness skills — a curriculum we designed to give kids the tools to succeed when they started school. “ Super Why ” was created with a literacy curriculum, to teach kids to learn to read and love to read. “ Daniel Tiger ” was created to showcase socio-emotional skills and to teach kids life lessons. “ Princess Penelope ” was created to teach critical thinking skills and how to solve problems with kindness.

Each of these series has research to prove that we are teaching these skills — and that kids love the shows so much they want them at their birthday parties.

Today, children have access to more content than we could have ever imagined when “Blue’s Clues” premiered in 1996. Some of what is being created for kids today is wonderful. But what worries me most is that too much of it is designed merely to capture children’s attention. Holding children’s attention is not the same as engaging them.

Much of today’s content for kids is candy. Images change quickly. Sounds and colors compete for attention. Loud. Surprising. Inappropriate. A child may stare at the screen, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the content is helping them in any way. Sometimes it simply means the content has been designed to make looking away difficult.

Children deserve more from us than that. No one would ever say that a heavy media diet of candy is good for kids.

When I began working in children’s media, programs were created by teams of writers, educators, researchers, producers and artists. We debated every detail. Would a preschooler understand this word? Was the story moving too quickly? Did we give children enough time to answer? What would they feel when the episode ended?

Today, an algorithm may decide what a child sees next. The algorithm knows what keeps kids watching. Like sugar, it makes them want more. What the algorithm doesn’t know is whether they felt calmer, kinder, more curious or more confident afterward. It doesn’t know if a child is tired, anxious, lonely or overstimulated.

The best children’s content can make a child laugh and give them something useful. It can inspire imaginative play, introduce a new idea or help a child find the words for a feeling they couldn’t explain before. A show for kids should leave something behind after the screen is off.

Parents can ask, How does my child act after watching? Does the program inspire play or conversation? Is my child being invited to think — or only encouraged to keep watching? Does the content respect my child’s intelligence?

The answers matter more than whether a program calls itself educational.

I believe that media can be one of our greatest teaching tools. But technology should serve children. Children should not be used to serve technology.

Angela C. Santomero is the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning co-creator of “Blue’s Clues” and creator of “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Super Why!” and the “Princess Penelope’s Purse of Preposterous Things” book and YouTube series. Her newest books are “ Bunny Lala’s Big Song ” and “ Pirate Argh’s Treasure .”