Media Stereotypes and Their Impacts on Youth

A Common Sense survey which investigates how on-screen stereotypes affect kids' development found that many of the movies and TV shows children watch reinforce rigid and stereotypical gender roles, and parents worry about the influence those stories can have on their kids' ideas about what counts as acceptable behavior, how relationships work, and even what jobs they can have.

Some of the key findings include:

-       The media reinforces the idea that masculine traits and behaviors are more valued than feminine traits and behaviors, and boys who consume these media messages are more likely to exhibit masculine behaviors and beliefs.

-       In adolescence, media use is associated with more tolerant views of sexual harassment and more support for the belief that women are at least partially responsible for their own sexual assaults.

-       The television programs and films that children and adolescents watch reinforce traditional gender stereotypes.

-       Heavier viewing of gender-traditional TV and film content is linked to the expression of more rigid beliefs about what men and women do and are and how they behave.

-       As children enter adolescence, media provide lessons on how they are expected to behave in romantic and sexual situations, and these lessons are strongly gendered.

Common Sense Media (2017). Watching gender: How stereotypes in movies and on TV impact kids’ development. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/commonsense_watchinggender-topline_release.pdf

Perceptions on Library Funding

OCLC was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore attitudes and perceptions about library funding and to evaluate the potential of a large-scale marketing and advocacy campaign to increase public library funding in the U.S.

Among the findings from the report:

-       Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation.

-       Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support..

-       Voters who see the library as a 'transformational' force as opposed to an 'informational' source are more likely to increase taxes in its support.

The report suggests that targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the voting public is key to driving increased support for U.S. public libraries.

De Rosa, C., Johnson, J., Gauder, B., Limes, R., Smith, S., & Burnett, L. (2008). From awareness to funding: A study of library support in America. Dublin, OH: https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/reports/funding/fullreport.pdf

EdNext Survey Examines Perceptions on School Reform

This survey examines current attitudes toward major issues in K–12 education and compare the results with those of prior years.

Key findings include:

1. Public support for charter schools has fallen, along with both self-described Republicans and self-described Democrats, and the opposition to school vouchers and tax credits to fund private-school scholarships.

2. Support for using the same academic standards across the states has risen since 2016—as long as the “brand name” of Common Core is not mentioned.

3. Compared with 2015, the public prefers a smaller role in education for the federal government and a larger role for local governments in three policy areas: setting standards, identifying failing schools, and fixing failing school.

4. The public is showing an increased resistance to change when it comes to policies affecting teachers.

5. Trump’s position on four issues—Common Core, charter schools, tax credits, and merit pay.

6.  Two thirds of the public prefer that students whose native tongue is not English be immersed in English-only classrooms.

7. Nearly half of the respondents think the effects would be positive if students spent more time on computers at school, while a third think the effect would be negative.

8. The general public is more favorable toward allowing Muslim students to form afterschool clubs than it was in 2008.

9. Two thirds of the public would have their child pursue a four-year university degree, while only a fourth would choose a two-year associate’s degree at a community college, and a tenth would choose neither.

10. Among white respondents, over half of those with a university degree say their local schools deserve a “grade” of A or B, while only half of those without that degree rate their local schools that highly.

EdNext (2017). The 2017 EdNext Poll on School Reform: What does the public think about school choice, Common Core, and other key issues? Washington, D. C.: Hoover Institution in Washington, D.C.: The Johnson Center. http://educationnext.org/2017-ednext-poll-school-reform-public-opinion-school-choice-common-core-higher-ed/#_schoolchoice