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