LESSON 5: CULTURAL STEREOTYPES IN THE MEDIA
Public Service Announcement
Stereotypes on the Loose!
Write a paragraph warning children about the dangers of believing everything they see on TV. Teach them what stereotypes are
and how they can be found in the media. List five TV shows, movies, songs, commercials etc. that you would put a warning label
on (if you could) and why. Be prepared to present one of these (a commercial, for example) to the rest of the class.
Research Project and Paper
The Impact of Cultural Stereotyping
1. Have students watch TV (it’s better if they can channel surf to survey as many different programs as possible) and make
notes as to the different racial and ethnic groups they see and how they are being represented.
2. Students should take notes on what they are seeing, in terms of cultural stereotypes and answer the following questions in
their paper.
• Are ethnic minorities visible on everyday TV?
• In what ways? In what roles?
• Which ethnic or racial groups are the most prominent? Which are rarely, if ever seen? Why do you think that is?
• Do any of the roles seem stereotypical?
• What effect does this stereotype have on people who are outside that racial or ethnic group?
• What effect does this stereotype have on people who are members of that racial or ethnic group?
• What does this say about mainstream American culture?
• Does American media reflect mainstream culture or act to shape mainstream culture?
3. Compare the representation of the different racial and ethnic groups with the actual population of the United States.
Then compare with the actual population of students in your school and community.
• Does it represent the actual population?
• What groups are being over-represented?
Essay
Write about your research and include answers you found to the questions above. Tie everything together to explore the impact
cultural stereotyping has on self-image and the development of attitudes and beliefs among children. Include some of your own
personal ideas to combat this problem. How would you solve it?
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