The text asked the questions, "Do you agree with Dorfman's position that children receive a 'secret education' in the media" Do you remember any incidents in your own childhood that support his allegations?"
As a prospective teacher I often catch myself thinking about my childhood and past schooling experiences. I am studying to be an early educator and so I spend much of my time with my head in children's books. The children's books of today are much different then the ones I was read, and read from, as a preschooler. Today's children's books are diverse in their choice of main characters and now approach a broad base of situations that young children could face. When I was in preschool I don't remember ever seeing books with main characters that weren't white and mostly male. These books perpetuated the gender roles placed on us by our society and did not give children another option. The female characters, which were so often the supporting role, where often placed in dresses, despite the situation the text presented, and these females often seemed weak or passive, and needed coxing from the male lead character. Dorfman used the word "handled" to describe how the media uses subtle messages from birth to conform the masses and suppress rebellion. these images presented to us as preschoolers have set the stage for the continuation of inequality in America. woman are often still paid a cheaper salaries then those of their male counterparts and are still so often viewed as the weaker of the two sexes, despite scientific research.
Many children can experience feelings of homosexuality or feelings about not being placed in the right body, long before there is information available to help them through these feelings. Some children can experience these types of feelings as early as preschool, for these children help and information needs to be presented to them in a way that they can understand and find meaning in. Now and days more and more children's books are being published with positive messages about transgender and homosexuality to both help children experiencing these feelings, and also to help others understand and accept these children for their differences. Recently many books have also been published which display non conventional family dynamics, like this children's book which describes a family with two mothers. These books can often help educators and parents begin to discuss these issues and help children accept everyone for their differences.
These options were not available when I was a child, but we are now seeing books which defy the stereotypical American family image and begin to describe issues that real children are facing. Justine, a senior in high school was quoted in our text stating, "True death equals a generation living by rules and attitudes they never questioned and producing more children who do the same." Hopefully with the diversity in children's books today, the next generation will grow up to rebel against the stereotypes and false images placed upon all of us by society. I can only hope that as an educator I can continue to question the rules placed upon me and teach my students to do the same.
