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... Perhaps the reason nothing sounds appealing to you is because the shows you are flipping through are primarily based around Caucasian children and their families. Why would you or anyone for that matter, want to watch a show about white children when you are not white? This is the problem that many minority children are faced with every morning before school when they want to watch cartoons, every afternoon when they get back from school when they have a chance to watch one show and even at night when it’s time to watch television with their family. I feel that the media today isn’t fairly representing minorities and is based around the Caucasian family.
Although it is still a big problem that not many television shows are showing any minorities, there are some shows that have been trying to show minorities and pave the way for other racially diverse shows too. ... It was one of the first television shows to introduce children to diversity. ... Although most of the characters were puppets, the show was still able to illustrate to children that there are other people just like them and that other ethnicities outside their own do exist. ... Generations of minority children have grown up watching shows with no representation of the culture or inaccurate portrayals on television. Studies confirm that members of minorities are underrepresented and stereotyped on television giving children an inaccurate representation of life. This can cause many people of minorities to feel out of place and like there is no one else out there like them.
Television is a vital part of American culture and overwhelmingly the primary media source for children; it has the ability to play a major role in shaping belief systems, particularly for the youngest and most easily influenced viewers. The impact of misrepresenting minorities on television has the greatest effect on children. Most children do not look at television the same way as most adults do. Adults realize that television is not complete reality, unlike children. The article written by the Media Awareness Network titled The Impact of Stereotyping on Young People supports this idea by stating,
“Anyone who understands or studies the social development of children and young people knows that attitudes, values and self-esteem are well developed by the mid-teen years, or even earlier. What young people see and hear in the media helps them to figure out how the world works and who and what is valued in our society” (1).
Approximate Word count = 2028
Approximate Pages = 8.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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