ABSTRACT
The media tend to view children growing up in urban poverty as either victims or perpetrators. When the Chicago police recently launched a manhunt to capture 11-year-old Robert Sandifer - who allegedly killed a 14-year-old girl - public officials demanded tougher treatment of juvenile offenders. When it was learned that Robert had been executed by his own gang, the outcry shifted: Social service agencies and his family had failed him. Portraying children like Robert only as victims of poverty and violence does them a disservice. It suggests that they are destined to failure. Children need more diversity than they are getting from the media. Despite the proliferation of channels, it is just more of the same. Kids also tell people how mad they get at the news' portrayal of them. Kids all agree that the scariest thing on television is the news.
