Children and Mass Media

Taylor Rooney:

How much do children really understand?

It comes as no surprise that children’s minds are shaped largely by what they see every day—whether that be through their parents, siblings, friends, or most importantly the media that is constantly surrounding them. These advertisements, commercials, television shows and movies have a much greater effect than many people never realize on these children’s molding minds. What’s most important to recognize is that children who watch violent/scary shows are shown to have much more anxiety at a young age; “Finally a random national survey conducted in 1999 reported that 62% of parents with children between the ages of two and seventeen said that their child had been frightened by something that they saw in a TV program or movie” (www.beliefnet.com).

        Typically, what children are most afraid of is violence, or the perceived threat of violence, such as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians who is relentless in chasing after the Dalmatian puppies. De Vil never succeeds in her attempt to capture the puppies to make a fur coat. However, the threat is constantly there, and it is a very gruesome one indeed. I used to watch this movie over and over and I don’t remember being scared by this, but that is because I simply didn’t understand what exactly it meant to make a fur coat. Surprisingly enough, “…research supports the generalization that preschool children (approximately 3 to 5 years old) are more likely to be frightened by something that looks scary but is actually harmless than by something that looks attractive but is actually harmful…” Knowing this, it is even more important that parents stay informed about current movies because it is never certain how a child will react to the movie. As children mature, Disney movies may be less likely to affect them because their cognitive brains will be advancing--yet, things such as the nightly news may begin to scare them. You really can never be sure, but it is better to be safe than sorry and check out that new kids movie for yourself before you let a child watch it! 

http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/2000/08/Media-Violence-And-Childrens-Fears.aspx

 Karlyn Tupper

As a child, I always remember being very scared of the “Wicked Witch of the West” in the Wizard of OZ. After learning about media effects on children, it is easy to see why scenes like the one above are scary for children to watch. The sounds used, the exaggeration of facial features, the bright green coloring of her face, the long fingers, and her-weapon like broom are just some of the many reasons why most children would cringe. Furthermore, this scene in particular not only emphasizes the witch but also her frightening flying monkeys (Youtube, 2009).

In the article by Weiss, one study was to see if a “predisposed photo” of a scary creature would help desensitize the child to the same scary creature in the movie (Weiss, page 18). Results showed that children were less scared of the creature after seeing a picture of it (Weiss, page 18). Thinking about this video, it would be hard to desensitize the child from the witch and flying monkeys considering both of these are fantasy characters. Their emotional responses could have been directly affected if they were shown a flying monkey or witch prior to watching the movie.

 Liam Heeks:

 Along with most of the other families around the country, my siblings and I grew up watching Disney movies. From The Little Mermaid to Aladdin, to Beauty and the Beast, they were all so much fun to watch as a kid. One thing that these films, and all of Disney’s films, had in common was having a villain in the film. These villains put fear into the child’s eyes and almost every time, the ‘good guys’ will save the day taking the fear away. These villains are usually portrayed in a certain way compared to the heroes. This study examines facial features of heroes and villains in Disney animated films, and the effects that these features have on children’s perceptions of people.

        The main featured differences for villainous characters to have were: more likely to have darker eyes, arched eyebrows, thin and pointed noses, a widow’s peak, straight hair (versus wavy), wrinkles, and appear to be older than 30 years old. When presented with images of people with features similar to these characters, they associate the negative personality traits of the villains with the real people. This is a negative consequence causing “prejudicing children against groups,” such as the elderly, who posses these characteristics.

When showing pictures to kids and giving questionnaires, the study found this idea to be true. They found that the faces with no widow’s peak, rounded eyebrows, no wrinkles, blue eyes, and the extreme hero face were rated more positively than the faces containing a widow’s peak, arched eyebrows, wrinkles, brown eyes, and the extreme villain face. The kids, after viewing these scary figures, have stronger stereotypes of faces with any of these characteristics than children who watched fewer Disney films. So, when looking at what movies to show your kids, rethink Disney because Villains may scare your kids to the point of prejudging others with similar facial features and creating stereotypes!

Maleficent –“Sleeping Beauty”

Maleficent’s evil knows no bounds as all of her insidious plans are devised out of spite. With her devil-like horns, she is easily seen as the most evil villain of all. If you don’t agree, look up “maleficent” in the dictionary and the definition will be “doing evil or harm.”

 

Scar- “Lion King”

Not all Disney villains are human as was seen in “Lion King” with Uncle Scar.  With His scary eyes and ominous scar, it is no wonder why children are afraid of Scar.  As noted, his pointed nose also is a point of reference with evil characters.

 

Marissa Dyson:

What about the previews?

        Many parents are very cautious about the movies that they allow their children to see. They check reviews and ratings to make sure that movies are not only appropriate for their children, but also that they will not be too scary. Parents can control which full length films their children see, but what about the previews? Parents have no way of knowing what previews will be shown before a movie begins, and if you are in a theatre, you have no control over whether or not your children view a potentially scary trailer.

        In an article called “Parental Guidance Suggested”, Barbara Lippert analyzes the reactions of many children to previews for movies that are supposed to be kid-friendly. Lippert says, “With the tech breakthroughs in the last 10 years, trailers have only gotten more intense, chaotic, and overwhelming (Lippert).” Lippert believes that due to time constraint, the makers of trailer must compress a lot of movie into a few minutes, causing previews to be much scarier than the actual movie.

        Some movies, Lippert feels, are actually adult movies, which are “cross-marketed to kids” (Lippert). An example of this is Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The Disney version of this story was made for children, but this newer version is much darker. Lippert says she has a friend whose children saw the Alice trailer before a children’s movie in a theater. The kids were terrified not only by the movie itself, but also by Johnny Depp, whose character in the re-creation of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory had already scared them.

        Lippert explains that there are ways for movies to give a lighter feel to scary parts. In How to Train Your Dragon, Lippert says, “…the music goes from dark to lighthearted and triumphant, so most kids responses positively”(Lippert). Lippert feels that the potentially frightening topic of dragons in this film was well portrayed to children using sounds and music.

        Lippert emphasizes the point that children younger than 8 years old cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality, causing frightening films to seem real, and therefore terrifying. When parents take their children to see seemingly safe movies, they cannot control for potentially frightful previews. Lippert recommends waiting for the movie to come out on DVD if children are young and easily scared by intense trailers.

Lippert, B. (2010). Parental guidance suggested. Mediaweek, 20(17), 19-19. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/213643144?accountid=14518