Discussion 2

Happy Saturday!

I just started working on my notes for the quiz Monday and it got me thinking about the readings we had this week.

I’m really enjoying the Sternheimer book; she takes some interesting perspectives, most that I wouldn’t have. I liked her discussion on the meaning of childhood and how it changes from generation to generation. Her idea that “popular culture often challenges adult control” (p.27) was funny to me. I don’t know how true that is, unless her idea of an adult is someone without access to media. Both of my parents are pretty up to date with the going ons in pop culture. They don’t necessarily care or find it interesting, but they do follow it. I guess this statement made me wonder who she thinks is actually consuming media.As Sternheimer asked us to define childhood, I would really like for her to define what an adult actually is.

However, I did like her point that “Perceptions of childhood now reflect adult anxieties about information technology, a shifting economy, a multiethnic population, and an unknown future,” (p. 37). I think every subsequent generation will cause the former generation concern if only because the future truly is unknown and the developments that come with it are up in the air. Are you concerned about the future generations based on the state of the media?

The Cortes article was also interesting. I always thought that generalization and stereotype were interchangeable, but clearly there is a difference. As a future teacher, I would like to incorporate media into my classroom and the readings we have had have helped form an idea of how to do so. I liked that Cortes emphasizes not to give students an assignment where they have to find stereotypes because they will have no idea what to look for (p. 159). It’s really important, I think even in our class right now, that we have a full understanding of what we are saying and what we are looking for. This way, we can have a better understanding of media stereotypes and be able to look for these stereotypes much more accurately. Did you guys agree with the idea that we can’t automatically go looking for stereotypes if we don’t know the correct definition and the difference between a stereotype and a generalization?

-Maddie