How do children’s media influence kids or the lack of. (censorship, themes of kids media)
- https://academicjournals.org/journal/JLCR/article-full-text/DCFC77E54997
- “However, autocratic and heavily centralized governments still openly or subtly employ censorship as a tool to silence government opposition”.
- “The role of media in a society is not limited to bringing information to the public; therefore, it is crucial that media does not capitalize on selling meaningless sensation that can potentially harm people, sects, races, and religions.”
When it comes to media, especially children’s media, censorship and influence are at the forefront of the conversation. Many people tend to say things like “protect the children” but what are we protecting them from and is there an ulterior motive? Media and people tend to have very different motives for example, “The role of media in a society is not limited to bringing information to the public; therefore, it is crucial that media does not capitalize on selling meaningless sensation that can potentially harm people, sects, races, and religions.” Though the media shouldn’t pray on races and religion to make a profit it still does that. The main reason I chose to focus on children’s media is because there seems to be a war for it involving the lgbtq movement as well as war propaganda. For example, some parents are concerned having their children see lgbtq characters will make them lgbtq. As well as certain children’s shows used Mickey Mouse esc characters to encourage children to become suicide bombers.
This is a real issue in today’s world Diya, we often see people blaming violent video games for the actions of school shooters, or the backlash received for representation of Lgbtq+ characters shown on children shows. And sometimes even banning books that try to open up about dark history in the United States or spark a conversation on issues like racism and homophobia. I agree, ulterior motives are definitely shown by some people as they are quick to blame and censor the media. Taking away resources from the youth. This is very harmful as it takes the focus away from real problems going on in the world that continue to happen because nobody wants to talk about it.
I think this a significant topic to focus on, Diya. I agree with the question of what exactly we protect our children from. I believe people, especially children, deserve to know what’s real, versus what is fake and what we can mask, similar to your argument on hiding children from LGBTQ+ shows, books, etc. I think the biggest thing, especially now is that people are sensitive and gullible, which leads them to believe that little things like this can have a huge effect on younger generations.