Children's Media Response: #3

Looking at some of our media examples from class and from the assigned homework readings/videos, I feel as if I understand fairly well what the inquiry topic means in regards to children's media.  I have a good grasp on what that is and what it does.  A child is a new human: someone who is venturing into an entirely new planet.  They are curious, they are wild, they are students of every facet of life.  This leads to a need that their developing minds have.  They must try to understand what is around them.  I feel that there are many different ways in which they can learn--and media in its various forms is just one of them, but a very effective one.

The They Might Be Giants album about science is a really nice example of a healthy and fun piece of entertainment to expose a child to.  It utilizes animation and absurdity and catchy tunes to get some complicated or confusing information out.  I would say that even as an adult, I still learned a new thing in every song.  The videos and songs were informative and creative and varied in topics enough to keep the journey fun and stimulating.  This is something that is important for children, who tend to have shorter attention spans.  The videos are short and fun enough to keep them engaged. Not only that, but they are still promoting good ideologies and ideas.  They are still prompting kids to be nice to the environment by driving an electric car, or to be nice to animals who provide us with many resources.  

We talked for a second in class about some hidden ideologies in different things that children engage with, and I stand by those ideologies not only being present but as being active and playing an active role in the developing minds.  Kids are way smarter than they get credit for.  Especially because they are students, they are watching carefully.  Children are eager to understand and eager to learn.  They see something, and while they may lack some of the analytical tools that adults have, they still analyze in their own ways.  A kid can still watch Pinocchio and come away from it with the knowledge that bad decisions = bad consequences, and they can still come away from the science music videos and know that an electric car is better than a gas car.  They are understanding, and they don't want you to baby them.  

That's a big part of being a kid--is knowing that you are one.  People tell you all the time and overtly leave you out of discussions or dismiss you because you are young and small.  And they are right. You're not ready to watch Star Wars yet, or you shouldn't watch a bunch of people kiss.  But sometimes what you want is to be treated like a real person.  It's a strange line to walk, and I don't really know why I'm talking about this, but it seemed relevant this week.