Covisioning and the impact of the media on children

We are in the midst of a technological revolution and globalization, a combination of two phenomena that contributes in a key way to the fact that there has never been such a cultural leisure offer wide. As always, the initial euphoria of these media has gradually given way to regulation, taking into account the great power that these media can exert on the public, especially in its children's audience.

Thus, Lucky Luke's mythical cigar became a healthy tang, the pistols of Spiderman's villains did not fire bullets, but stun rays (or something like this) and the ninja turtles became the hero turtles, all in favor of limiting the apology of tobacco, weapons or violence in content aimed at children. The situation is complicated if we pay attention to the huge number of cartoons that have been criticized and censored for promoting racial stereotypes, especially by the all-powerful Disney.

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Sensitizing children through the media

And it is true that the promotion of stereotypes can be as harmful as that of drugs. Awareness of what we see in the media regarding race or gender is increasing, but more subtle archetypes continue to appear frequently. In Friends there is more than one scene where canned laughter is activated by the mere appearance of an overweight character dancing, and in The Big Bang Theory there are more than two occasions in which the protagonists are funny simply for using scientific terms and being "intelligent" and therefore "weird".

Faced with this situation, following the path we have embarked on up to now, what is necessary would be to restrict the appearance of such stereotypes on screen, but where would we put the limit? Is it feasible for all minorities to be represented in all artistic works? Can the drama be affected if we give up certain elements? What do we do with the animated movies before this time and their thousands of stereotypes? And most importantly: Through this "censorship", Do we lose the opportunity to educate in values?

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The importance of screening

Works of fiction are still a reflection of their time and usually represent the audience to which they are being shown. In that sense, as much as we protect children from its influence, sooner or later they will find it in their own lives. Therefore, cartoons give us an opportunity to work in a controlled context, in a “laboratory”, before children face the dangers that these stereotypes engender in the world real.

From this point of view, Covisioning is of great importance, a technique that consists of an adult accompanying the child during his adventure, contextualizing all those guidelines that, although they can work in fiction, we understand that they are not convenient in the society.

Special mention should be made of humor, which often resorts to stereotypes or politically incorrect topics seeking to make people laugh, or through elements socially shared, as in monologues (“mothers-in-law and sons-in-law don't get along”) or through rejection or daring (The Family Guy, The Simpsons).

Instead of censoring such humor, children can be taught that what can be funny on TV doesn't have to be funny in reality and that, in fact, if it's funny on TV it's partly because it's not funny in reality.

violence and television

Following that logic, something similar happens with weapons. Fiction or play are an ideal context for the infant to develop his creativity, and limiting it by prohibiting the use of certain elements can be an obstacle for it.

Thus, in the same way that we see Superman fly without fear of our children throwing themselves down the window, we should be able to see a drunken Captain Haddock without fear of developing alcoholism. Yes, it is true that the second example is less obvious to them as it is not subject to the laws of physics, and yes, obviously embodies a high risk for the development of its values if it is allowed to run wild... but that is precisely where the role of parents and educators comes in, exercising covisioning in the face of violent, sexual or stereotypical content.

After all, acting as guardians of morality, leaving controversial elements without contextualizing that boys and girls will meet sooner or later is the most direct way for them to be accepted without further ado as faithful descriptions of the reality.