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100 Family Media Literacy Activities (cont.)
15. Compare on-line news with newspapers and TV news programs.
Encourage your child to read on-line news sources for kids—such as Linda Ellerbe’s Nick News, www.nick.com and compare what he/she learned about top stories with newspaper and television accounts of the same story. News programs directed to children can engage your child in thinking about current events in new ways.
Screen Stereotypes
16. Working people on TV.
As your child watches TV during one week, encourage him/her to keep a list of men's and women's TV occupations. When it comes to work, how are male and the female jobs depicted—do patterns emerge? Are characters' occupations stereotyped? How do you know? For instance, do you ever see a male nurse or a secretary that is an older woman?
17. Inventory of roles.
During the same week as the activity above, your child could write down the minority group characters he/she sees on television, including occupations and a few character traits. In a discussion with your child, compare and contrast these descriptions to the Caucasian characters on the same or similar programs.
18. I know that person!
Have your child compare a TV character to someone you know who's about the same age in real life. How are they the same? What differences do you find? How "real" is the TV character really?
19. TV jobs.
Suggest that your child watch a television program, and have paper and pencil on hand for the conclusion of the show in order to record all the job titles in the credits. Videotaping helps. With the completed list, ask your child to write next to each job title what he thinks that person does. Help your child determine whether any of these jobs sound like something he or she would like to do. Why or why not? Emphasize that any and all jobs are available from scriptwriter to sound engineer no matter if you are a boy or a girl.
20. Expand the roles.
Choose programs your child likes to watch. Tell him to pay close attention to characters that display stereotypical behaviors or attitudes. For example, in a sit-com, examine the role of the father. Does he resemble real-life fathers? Why or why not? How can this person be made more “whole” and a unique person if he seems one-dimensional and stereotyped? Have your child do this for a few characters, discussing what changes he or she made and why. Then point out how the roles change when stereotypical attitudes and behaviors are removed. Discuss with your child how the program differs with the characters’ new identities. You might also have your child draw pictures of his new characters engaged in real-life activities.
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