CHILDREN AND MASS MEDIA STEREOTYPES By Stephanie Desenclos& Donna Fredericks

According to Tolerance.Org: Parenting on Tolerance The average American Child spends more time in front of the television than in any classroom- racking up more than 18,000 hours of TV by high school graduation and 13,000 hours in the classroom.” Furthermore, you do the math. “ That’s 5,000 more hours soaking up stereotypes and misinformation than reading, discussing and learning about real people and cultures” Viewing Habits

STEREOTYPES Stereotypes are understood to be different things to different people. describes them as being based on extreme characteristics attributed to the group with usually negative values attached to that group. added that a stereotype is applied, whenever a group is depicted or portrayed in such a way that all its members appear to have the same characteristics, attitudes or life conditions.

Were all guilty of using stereotypes and having prejudices, whether consciously or unconsciously. We use them all the time, more often than not without even realizing it. According to the May/June 1998 edition of Psychology Today’s magazine. The article Where Bias begins: the truth about stereotypes written by Annie Murphy Paul He argues “we all use stereotypes _ we take into account the gender, the age, the color, of the person’s skin before us, and our minds respond with messages that say hostile, stupid, slow, weak We basically came to realization that they don’t reflect reality.” our preconceptions of “the other” are based on our personnel experiences coupled with the misinterpretations of images spoon fed to us by the media on the daily basis USES OF STEREOTYPES

RESEARCH STUDIES John Bargh of New York University concludes “even if there is a kernel of truth in the stereotypes, You’re still applying a generalization about a group to an Individual which is always incorrect…. Accuracy aside, some Believe that the use of stereotypes is simply unjust.” Research studies

Children’s understanding of the ethnically diverse world around them is shaped by the images they encounter in the media during their early exposure Research demonstrates that children get messages about race by seeing how often it members are portrayed in the media. CHILDREN NOW

Media grant legitimacy through recognition and respect shown to racial groups The recognition and respect occurs only with positive roles in the media. The research argues that the absence of ethnic groups suggest, “ they are not worthy of viewers attention, while stereotypes or negatively- valued roles indicate that they are not worthy of respect The study also found that it’s important for children to see members of their own race on television CHILD NOW RESEARCH ARGUES

Stereotypes depicted in children’s media: representation of various populations in children’s media »GENDER ROLES females Males Ethnic groups African Americans males criminals Wash dishes VS Being in corporate world STRONG = crime

SOLUTIONS Parents…… Limit children’s TV exposure Remove TV’s from children’s bedroom Teach your children about tolerance for other races and cultures Create opportunities for discussion to talk about stereotypes in the media. Watch television together. Identify stereotypes together with your children Discuss differences between reality and make believe images Deconstruct the “media reality’ with your children Take advantage of spontaneous teaching opportunities

SOLUTIONS educators……. In the classroom teach tolerance Assist in the deconstruction of children’s “media realities’ every time the opportunity arises Mix up class room. Pair students with children of other races Media awareness and media education should become a part of the curriculum in all school districts in the U.S.

Pediatrician & Physicians Physicians should become educated about the public health risks of media exposure Physicians should incorporate questions about media use into their patients routine visits Urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under two years of age Should alert and educate parents, children, teachers and others Collaborate with other professionals to promote media education encourage government funding of medical education programs for schools and media education research

CONCLUSION In summary, the mass media and never ending exposure to it by children strongly influences their perceptions of various groups of people as presented in our paper with documented studies..” Our future will depend upon our ability to develop positive racial identities and an appreciation for Diversity…… clearly (the) media is only one of many influences in children’s lives, but young people believe that it has both the power to break down stereotypes and the potential to build greater understanding” (Mnet)