At the completion of this activity, you are likely to have more questions than answers. Here are some you may wish to consider:

1. Who does TV say children are?
2. What are TV's parents like?
3. What are teachers like?
4. How much have the roles and images of children, schools and families changed in the past two decades of television?
5. Has the image of child portrayals affected student behavior?
6. Look at these roles of children, as portrayed by TV:

+ obedience
+ things children say to adults
+ things kids do to and with one another
+ internal dialogue of some of the characters and protagonists
+ empathy
+ relationship to one another
+ ways we treat animals
+ who boys are or should be
+ who girls should be or are
+ what kind of trouble do kids get into these days
+ what do adults do when children are "bad"
+ potential for positive adult role models

7. What ideas emerge for you, and what do you believe about TV?
8. What affect has TV had on you and your vision of life?

Of course, movies have had quite an impact too. Consider some of the themes in movies for children today and the themes from the 40's and 50's. Have the ideas about who children are or should be changed? Examples that come to mind include:
Home Alone, ET, The Omen, The Exorcist, Lilo and Stitch, Harry Potter, Spiderman

And older movies -

National Velvet, Lassie, Helen Keller, Diary of Anne Frank, Wizard of OZ, Shirley Temple

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