The second article I found has to do with stereotyping of older characters in children’s television. I guess I never noticed how negatively older people are portrayed. I also found this interesting because age is not a stereotype I think of right away. Usually I think of race and sex before age. Although the article didn’t go into detail about which shows were positive or negative, it did a good job of analyzing children’s television as a whole.
Caitlin, Anderson, and Tom Robinson. "Older Characters in Children’s Animated Television Programs: A Content Analysis of Their Portrayal." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 50.2 (June 2006): p287-304. Web. 9 Feb 2011.
In this article, Tom Robinson and Caitlin Anderson report their analysis of children’s televisions shows, focus on the demographics of the characters and compare them to the demographics of characters from 20 years ago. They explain that children often learn about society from the roles television characters play in shows. The easiest ways for children to learn these complicated roles is through stereotyping. This is why children often already formed stereotypes and beliefs about adults when they enter school. While only a small percentage of characters in children’s television are older, the majority of these characters are portrayed positively. However, the ethnicities of these older characters are not as diverse as the American population, they are mostly male and the characters only played a small role. In some shows, adults are portrayed as the villain and often have negative character and personality traits. The images of older people presented to children at a young age teaches children how to behave around different groups of people.
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