This week, media and socialization caught my attention. I thought the video about the influence in gender roles/gender stereotypes by Disney movies was interesting.
The video pointed out the heavy influence of TV on children social behavior, and specifically addressed Disney videos in the stereotype view of man and women.
I feel that every children's story book, toys and clothes are a representation of stereotypes. I believe things are this way because this is the value of our society. Our society is patriarchal but not so extreme as it was in the past. I can agree with the video about the stereotype of the skinny woman being detrimental though. However, I think it can be prejudicial if children only watch Disney videos and don't have any other contact with other sources.
I really enjoyed what the Shrek movie did with the classic Disney stories. It made evident all the stereotypes but kept the core value and characteristics of man and women intact - Shrek is strong, brave but could learn to be lovely and kind while Fiona is the princess that can do a lot for herself but still was waiting for her prince. I think the combination of both movies are a great tool to teach kids about stereotypes.
Children see and process information different from adults. Scientists at UCL (University College London) and Birkbeck, University of London have found that children younger than 12 do not combine different sensory information to make sense of the world as adults do. It means that children are able to separate information and notice differences that for adults are not perceived anymore due to sensory fusion. Although the Shrek movie was obviously different from Disney classics, I think children can better separate what is a stereotype and what is a normal pattern of gender role in our society.
Using TV can be a tool to increment children's education and produce awesome results but leaning on extremes (just school, just home, just TV, just Internet, etc) will probably end up being prejudicial for socialization and higher cognitive development.
That is really interesting that we don't begin to combine sensory information until age 12. I suppose that ties into Piaget's theory and when adolescents begin forming abstract thoughts. Sometimes I wish we could think with the simplicity of a child :) I agree, any one of those learning environments, on its own, could end up being prejudicial. There are so many new media outlets our kids are getting sucked into as well. I think they can end up being really beneficial as long as they are used properly. My daughter's kindergarten teacher even uses "iPad time" as a reward for doing their work well. I know I try and limit what my children watch on tv (time and content) and what they do on the iPad but I have to say, my 3 year olds can write their letters pretty well from playing certain games. Hopefully we can all learn the proper balance to create some well rounded people.
ReplyDelete