Shaping the World Through Childrens Television

[Music]

when i was a kid

my favorite movie of all time was the

disney movie mulan

this is when movies were still in vhs

tape form

i watched mulan so many times that i

broke the tape from rewinding and

re-watching it too many times

and to this day my family still brings

up how much i love that movie

now was it because i really resonated

with her character in the story

i don’t think so but i think a large

part of the reason i held on to mulan

so tightly was because she was the only

east asian character

i can remember seeing on tv

in recent years and especially after the

killing of george floyd and the

resurgence of the black lives matter

movement last summer

there have been rightful calls to

diversify many spaces

ramifications that can be explained

through two theories

cultivation theory and social learning

theory

cultivation theory states that media

influences viewers

perceptions and thoughts and that this

media content is

cultivated by the viewer as reality

so in other words what you see on screen

influences

how you think and how you perceive the

world and other people

social learning theory views television

as a primary

influence in the development of

children’s socialization skills

so it emphasizes observing and then

modeling the behaviors and attitudes of

other people

particularly people you identify with

so what that means is if you see someone

on screen that you identify with

you’re more likely to model their

behavior in real life

and these theories are important because

sometimes television shows are the first

time

that children are introduced to a person

who comes from a different socioeconomic

or cultural background from them for

children who don’t live in diverse

communities

or don’t have the opportunity to

interact with people who are different

from them

television is a powerful tool to learn

about and experience different people

unfortunately characters of color are

often

heavily stereotyped and portrayed

negatively

and this is where cultivation theory and

social learning theory come into play

these two theories predict that what

children learn about that character

on screen can shape the beliefs and

influence

how they behave towards that group of

people in real life

so when children see people of color

being portrayed negatively on screen

they’re more likely to think negatively

about that group of people

in real life and the effects of this may

seem minimal

but it can lead to discrimination and

unconscious bias

however it’s not just about negative

portrayals

but the mere number of them as well

as of 2020 the u.s population is

roughly 60 percent white and 40 people

of color

of the forty percent twelve point five

percent are black

and nineteen percent are hispanic now

let’s look at the us population

through the lens of children’s media a

study that looked at some of the most

popular animated children’s television

shows analyzed

one thousand and five hundred characters

in their survey they found that less

than ten percent of characters were

people of color

of that ten percent 5.6 percent of

characters are black

and 1.4 were hispanic

this is a problem because children lose

the opportunity

to see people with their identities

being portrayed

it can communicate a message that they

do not belong to

or cannot be successful members of our

society

furthermore if the few portrayals that

they do see if people like themselves

are

negative and stereotyped this means that

they’re cultivating

and learning from these negative images

which poses an issue with their

self-esteem

research has shown that lower

self-esteem is correlated with

poor mental health and student

motivation academic achievement

and may even lead to health compromising

behaviors like alcohol abuse or

disordered eating

but what is being done about this

problem

in recent years children’s media has

made steps to increase diversity

in shows and talk about race with

children

however what mostly happens in

children’s shows when addressing

diversity and equity

is that the message becomes some

variation of

we may be different but in the end we

are all equal

and you’ve probably heard a similar

version of it before something like

we have different skin colors but

underneath that we are all human

anything like that and that message is a

start

but i’m proposing that children’s media

go even deeper

there’s a conception that tough topics

like race or colonization shouldn’t be

touched by children’s media

that somehow a kid’s innocence will be

ruined if we talked about

the not so pretty aspects of our history

in our society

but there are ways to highlight and

uplift certain cultures and people

that we don’t talk about that is never

addressed in schools

without quote-unquote ruining children’s

innocence

i had the opportunity to witness what

this could look like when i interned on

a pbs show called

molly of denali last semester which is

actually produced right here in boston

the show is about 10 year old alaska

native girl molly

who explores alaska with her best

friends and her dog suki

she is the very first indigenous main

character

on a children’s broadcast television

series since the birth of broadcast

television almost a hundred years ago

the content dives deep into alaska

native culture

molly talks about alaskan natives who

inspire her like walter harper

the first person to reach the summit of

denali the highest mountain peak in

north america she shows the audience

their way of life living

in rural alaska and incorporates native

words into her dialogue

she talks about her culture through

learning about elders native names or

training for the native youth olympics

and showcases native foods and recipes

this model of diversity is so different

from what we usually see in shows

but what is so significant about mali of

denali is that this show

doesn’t just feature native people on

screen but

off screen as well gbh the pbs station

for massachusetts who produces the show

has hired over 60 alaska natives

to work on the show in various

capacities

alaska native producers are part of the

production team to guide the direction

of the show

and are involved in every important

decision

gbh obtained funding to train indigenous

writers on screenwriting specifically

for animation to write for the show

they also hosted a voice acting workshop

for native children and have indigenous

voice actors

for every indigenous character on the

show

they’ve sought out cultural and language

advisors for every single culture that

they touch upon

who look at everything from scripts and

animation to educational curriculum

games and social media to ensure that

the content is authentic

and respectful and this commitment to

getting it right

and being authentic and respectful has

resulted in overwhelming and

positive feedback adults leave comments

and messages on social media talking

about

how amazing it is to see their own

culture on screen

they reflect on how watching the show

moves them to tears because they didn’t

realize how much

not seeing themselves growing up had

impacted them

there’s an episode called grandpa’s drum

in which molly’s grandpa doesn’t sing

native songs anymore

since his childhood drum was taken away

from him when he was sent to boarding

school

where native language and customs were

forbidden

molly tracks down his childhood drum and

returns it to him and helps him find his

songs again

after this episode aired we got messages

from alaska native sharing stories about

their own family members going through

this

and how much they connected to this

story

and this is just one example of how

tough topics like

boarding school history in alaska and

forced assimilation can be discussed in

children’s media

my favorite feedback of all time is this

photo of a little girl ella with her dog

yuki

posed next to molly and her dog tsuki

i’m not saying that molly of denali does

everything perfectly

but i think it is an example of how this

type of representation is

so important for children to know that

their stories matter and for other

children to learn about it

mali of denali isn’t the only show that

does this what have we seen from other

diverse media

they are a resounding success think

about movies like

black panther or coco and how widely

successful they have been

black panther is the highest grossing

superhero film in the us

it boasts marvel’s first black director

and an almost entirely black lead cast

think about coco it was the biggest box

office hit in mexico

and part of coco’s success license how

much it resonated with families of

mexican descent

not only are children and adults looking

for diverse movies

but they’re craving it and this

is the first domino towards creating a

more understanding

empathetic and open-minded world

ultimately it’s not about how television

impacts us but what we choose to do with

television

so be mindful of what you consume look

for diverse and inclusive shows and

support these shows with your

views it encourages the field to

continue to shift the direction of

children’s media

and media in general towards inclusivity

and meaningful representation

if we can create this world for children

on screen

the effects of that will ripple out and

influence so

many other areas of our society so let’s

cultivate a more diverse worldview

a more empathetic and understanding

world for children and ourselves

and it starts at home it’s as simple as

watching tv

thank you

you