Racismo em desenhos animados

: perceção das crianças entre os 6 e os 7 anos a partir de visualização de filme e mapas cognitivos

Abstract

Nowadays, children are growing up in an environment of media convergence and society increasingly provide various devices and formats to entertain children on a daily basis while parents are occupied with other tasks. However, the freedom given to a child during these moments can have very serious effects on their life due to their lack of media literacy and critical sense. Nevertheless, beyond the support that media can offer to children, there is an attempt to create a healthy engagement between them and the content they watch. Parental mediation can help them select and restrict content according to their age and cognitive
maturity. In this context, one of the significant problems that arises for these developing beings is the presence of discrimination in various fictional animation channels, sometimes not very visible. It becomes relevant to understand what perception children have of racism while watching their favorite content, often alone. This research aimed to understand the perception of children between the ages of six and seven regarding racism in cartoons through an exploratory study using cognitive maps and semi-structured interviews after viewing a classic discriminatory animation, 'Dumbo’. Among the main conclusions, we found that only a minority of the participants in this study
come close to the definition of racism after prior contextualization by their parents on the subject. However, no child can identify it in the analyzed cartoon, and there seems to be some confusion between the terms racism and bullying. In 'Dumbo’, specifically, the challenge for children of this age group in deciphering scenes with discriminatory aspects may be associated with maturity and cognitive development at these ages, factors that confirm (or not) the lack of media literacy.

Date of Award	12 Jan 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ioli Campos (Supervisor) & Cristina Ponte (Co-Supervisor)