For a Child, Every Moment Is a Teachable Moment
2001; American Academy of Pediatrics; Volume: 108; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1542/peds.108.1.179
ISSN1098-4275
Autores Tópico(s)Media Studies and Communication
ResumoWe are brought to a rude awakening by Thompson and Yokota's content analysis of G-rated animated feature films.1 The use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs is so deeply ingrained in the American lifestyle that these health risk behaviors are portrayed for comedy, drama, or as normal everyday activity even in entertainment that most parents provide unquestioningly to their youngest children. Nearly half of the 81 films produced since 1937 contained portrayals of alcohol and/or tobacco use. Only 3 contained pro-health messages; all 3 warned only of tobacco. Remembering that children under the age of 8 years are developmentally incapable of making a clear distinction between fantasy and reality, we need to reexamine what even our “safest” media are portraying as the ways of the world. Alcohol consumption is rife in recent films like “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and “The Great Mouse Detective,” and it is played for laughs in the classics “Sleeping Beauty” and “Fantasia.” In this context, is it so surprising that 1 in 7 fourth graders has been drunk and 1 in 3 believes that alcohol consumption is a “big problem” in their age group?2 Research has shown that children are more inclined to accept alcohol consumption after exposure to television portraying such behaviors.3,,4 …
Referência(s)