ABSTRACT
Except for the family, the media have perhaps the most powerful impact on children's attitudes toward the world and others in it. For the most part, the images they hear and see on television and elsewhere in the electronic age are violent and negative, and parents often are in a quandary about why their children have so stereotyped other groups. Too often, parents do not pay much attention to what their children watch on television, what they overhear in adult conversations, who their children are exposed to and what type of books and magazines they read. A few years ago, the author consulted on developmental issues and children with Disney studios, which was contemplating a program for preschoolers. She found herself frustrated by animators whose whole perspective was channeled through stereotypes. At her center in Alameda, there are children who are Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Pakistani, Erithian, Latino and African American.
