Six, Going on Sixteen

The chapter I chose to read in "Rethinking Popular Culture and Media" was called, Six, Going on Sixteen by Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin. I was intrigued with the title of this chapter because this is exactly how I could describe many students I have taught. I could even relate this to my younger siblings, acting older than they really are. It was an interesting read because teaching fourth grade, I believe that some of my students have lost their "innocence" and that was either due to older siblings, or family structure. McLaughlin told her story of teaching kindergarten and compared that to teaching middle school, just as the way her students were acting and speaking. She said she felt as though she was "unprepared" to deal with this behavior in the younger grades.

For example, students in her classroom were identifying each other as, "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", 5-year-old girls were vying for the attention of the "coolest" boy in the classroom. They would imitate how how rappers and artists dance in music videos, discussing about "being in the club" and "drinking Heineken". Yes, drinking Heineken... I did write that!! P.S. we are still discussing behavior from KINDERGARTENERS. The more I read, I grew more and more concerned as did McLaughlin. Her classroom dynamic really took a shift. The class community was not as strong as it was in previous years, mind you, she had been teaching for 18 years. Not only were these children behaving as young adults, they were getting in fights over the idea of who was wearing the "nicest" brand name sneaker. She spoke with one of her kindergarteners on the first day of school, and she had pointed out to McLaughlin where the "popular" table was. McLaughlin questioned what she meant by that, which the student responded, "Oh, you know, they have nice clothes." Asking where she had learned such a thing, the student responded without hesitation, "The Disney Channel".
Not knowing what steps to take next, but knowing she wanted something to change, she enrolled in a two-day summer media institute at Wheelock College called Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence, and Commercial Culture on Children and Society. Within this course, she learned that big corporations are deliberately targeting vulnerable children (p. 30). Of course, depending on the targeted audience for a specific channel, it makes sense that corporations are targeting children to have their parents buy a certain product, that is a simple marketing strategy. Even television shows on Disney or Nickelodeon, provide children with an unrealistic depiction on how to act and dress. For example, my younger sister who is now, 11, watched Disney channel all the time growing up, where characters who looked like her age on the show, would discuss what relationships they were in, which I thought was way above her age level. McLaughlin also discussed age compression and she quoted Levin an author that stated, "Children become involved in and learn about sexual issues and behavior they do not yet have the intellectual or emotional ability to understand and that can confuse and harm them."
McLaughlin's goal? To bring back childhood. Studying before the start of the new school year, she understood that children had two critical social problems, problem-solving and compassion. Which was a "direct result of current media and popular culture" (p. 32). She wanted her students to learn through play, learn through experience, and solve social issues together. Figuring out strategies to use when a social issue were to occur in the classroom. Through play, they created their own social stories, and were able to solve as the powerful individuals that they are. She also created a school-wide initiative which she called "Tv Turnoff Week" helping students create individualized schedules of what they can accomplish that week, instead of watching TV, or their iPad. I think that is an amazing idea.
I found myself relating to McLaughlin a lot during this reading. I do believe that media has a lasting impact on children. She provided a great example of, "How often have you seen children playing Power Rangers, or Cheetah Girls? The boys have to be violent and the girls have to be sexy. That's what they see so that's what they play" (p. 34). That line really struck out to me because I remember vividly putting on a "show" (if you want to call it that) with my four neighborhood girl friends and we would act out the dances from Cheetah Girls, with my boombox in my front yard! We weren't creating, we were intimidating, we were not in control of the kind of play. I hope more teachers can take a lesson from McLaughlin in their classroom, and incorporate a sense of childhood and play into their classrooms.

Here's more on the sexualization of youth