October 19th

Marketing Violence: The Special Toll on Young Children of Color

~  Media Messages about race:

Children of color are sometimes judged by other children and adults, could this be because of what children watch on TV?  Many parents try to teach their children  not  to judge others based on the color of their skin. However, many children learn to judge others from television, school, and other adults. As an adult I don’t clearly understand why. Why are people of color automatically judged and not part of many great TV shows? For example,That 70 show Fez is the only teenager of color. Fez isn’t given a last name and never shares his ethnicity. I remember watching this show as a teenager and I would laugh at the jokes about Fez’s character not realizing the stereotype.

Today we see more people of color on TV and media but they usually portray a stereotype. It is rare to find a doctor, teacher, policeman, and other roles on TV played by people of color (there are many professionals of many ethnic backgrounds in real life). Children learn from what they see,  someone of color could potentially be dangerous because of a TV show where someone of color had that role. There are many dangers these stereotypes can lead to. Children may expect only violence form someone based on the color of their skin. Children may also ignore real dangers because the “bad guy/ girl” is usually an outcast not someone who appears the “good guy/girl.”