A woman in one of my classes told a story about the effect of media on her young 4 year old son. He was watching a show on public TV with one of his friends who was a girl. At some point in the show, the main character who was male was playing with a boy and a girl. There was something that the girl character perceived as heavy, so she opted not to do it. And the main character commented that girls couldn't do it, implying they weren't strong enough. The two children who were watching this show got into a discussion. The girl said she thought girls could do whatever they wanted. Then, her son said, "No girls can't do that." Well, my student, the mom of this boy stepped in to reassure both children that whether you are a boy or a girl did not limit by itself the choices made during play time. Her son said, "No, mommy, you are wrong."
So here he is, four years old, and mommy is wrong. And the TV is right. She told her husband she didn't want their son to watch this show any more. They have been very careful about what they let him watch, and now this show was passing on values and attitudes about girls and boys and their abilities and strengths that she thought were biased.
I'm not one who believes we should completely ban media from children. We can't. Some kids will even make choices to spend time with certain children because they have a TV or a certain video game. But, we do need to monitor the TV, movies and video games that kids are watching. When children spend a lot of time with media activities, they may be absorbing beliefs that we don't agree with. I suspect, though I am not sure, that this 4 year old may have had a different reaction if his father had responded with the same kind of statement that his mother offered. He may have already learned that being a girl means you are limited in your abilities.
Children are learning all the time. They are constantly receiving new information and making decisions about what is right. Our open communication with them also helps them learn how to assess the truth. Young children can have very "black and white" - "either/or" thinking. It is our job to stretch their perspectives.
1 comment:
It looks like you and I are similar in age, my daughter was born in 1977 :-). We now have a 9 yr old granddaughter. It is important to watch the shows with your kids (grandkids) don't use it for babysitting. Even more these days as the messages sent even in the 'good' shows are not always pro 'mom and dad know best'. Indoctrination at its best is subtle. AND, media isn't the only thing that needs to be monitored. We found that as our daughter grew up that it was VERY important to keep communication open with her (hard enough with a teen) because of things that she was told in school and by friends as well. They will learn to trust you when you counter something they pick up if you are thoughtful, fair, present both sides and the reasons why you have come to believe as you do.
Post a Comment