Linda Christensen
Erika
QUOTES:
1. “The “secret education”… delivered by children’s books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints.” The article explains the underlying message in children’s works and explains that this “secret education” is often over looked. Yet it is taught to us by these works. This seems to be another way that children learn society’s culture of power.
2. “… two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption – in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle.” This is explaining that even when a princess story is changed in terms of culture and ethnicity. There is still an underlying message that we must confront. It’s no wonder that most single moms can only “get out” of their situation of being poor by marring, it was taught to us.
3. “. . . most students wrote for local and national newspapers or magazines. The writing in these articles was tighter and clearer that for-the-teacher essays… the possibility of publishing their pieces changed the level of student intensity.” She asked the students to critique this “secret education” using proof from some works for children. The student excelled above and beyond what she expected and some even got published. They also got an outlet for their frustrations and opened other up to this concept.
COMMENTS:
I love the idea of raising awareness that children’s cartoons can have an effect on how/what you think. A lot of the time the content of cartons is not analyzed by the general public. We think they are innocent and pure entertainment. It is obvious that there are subtle underlying messages. Messages about how society and people in power want us to think/act. The culture of power is evident in some of these cartoons; older cartons portray male dominance and marginalize minorities. Now while we may not know how to change it and some may not even want to change it we still need to be AWARE of it. We need to, as future educators, be able to point these inaccuracies out and help overcome them. We need to address the issue with our students when they are feeling the pressure to act a certain way or wear a certain outfit. We need to let them know that they are in control of what and who they are.
Erika, i feel that the "secret education" needs to be REVEALED aka NOT a secret ;) .. we need people to inform others and their children about this so it can be controlled. I dont think it can be completely stopped but atleast by informing others it can be simmered down a little bit ! i agree with your myths statement. at the end of princess movies its all "princess gets married, lives happily ever after and everything is perfect" but no marriage isnt ever 100 percent freely perfect. there are glitches along the way and these princess movies dont show that. by having students critique the "secret education" its also giving them a voice and telling them that their voice and opinion matter. and I couldnt have wrote a better comment to that article ....great job! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that people tend to see children's media as innocent by definition. We need to remember that media is entertainment and that all entertainment has a "junk food for the mind". For example, the science channel may be more educational than mtv but reading a book about sience or becoming involved in experimentation would be more direct. Kids shows will have moments of education but they'll also have moments of attention grabbing mind sugar. It's not a substitute for real life experiences and interactions.
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