Teaching, not protecting, youth

Like Meg, I have trouble with the idea that youth need to be protected from the media but my issue is with the way this idea portrays youth, not the media. I find it condescending, like we need help from adults (who are often far less media literate than we are) to navigate through the sea of media available to us in order to find out what's good and what's bad. It implies that we are not capable of making intelligent decisions about the media by ourselves. I definitely feel that there is media out there that is harmful to youth, but I believe that the way to combat this is to teach youth to view media critically instead of trying to hide them from it. Keeping youth away from media reminds me of abstinence-only sex education: instead of actually addressing the problem, it simply preaches avoidance, even when it is clearly ineffective. However, if youth have the skills to critically analyze media, they are able to enjoy it safely.

For me, it is especially important to help young children develop these skills because they are exposed to so much media before they are able to see through the negative messages in it. One example of media that negatively influences young children is Disney. I loved it as much as anyone else when I was little, but when I watch Disney movies now, I'm frustrated to see how much is wrong with them. There are clear issues of gender roles (Cinderella cleans all day and is saved when she meets a man who has fallen in love with her because she is beautiful and has small feet) and racism (the opening sequence of Aladdin goes "Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place, Where the caravan camels roam, Where they cut off your ear, If they don't like your face, It's barbaric, but hey, it's home), but my biggest problem with Disney movies is the "happily ever after". I'm not saying there shouldn't be happy endings, but for every single movie to end with the hero and heroine skipping off into the sunset gives children an unrealistic message about life. When I was little, one of my favorite books was the original version of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, where the prince marries another woman and the mermaid dies. It is not as sad as it sounds - she is told that she can return to her life as a mermaid if she kills the prince but her love for him is strong enough that she chooses to die instead of killing him. Although her body dies, her spirit remains and she is happy knowing that she saved the man she loved. The Disney version? Yeah, a little bit different. It may be easier for children to watch, but I think it's important for children to learn early that not everyone gets a "happily ever after", and that's just fine.