Week 1 Discussion-Nicole

“When a character more closely resembles a viewer, emotional investment with a program increases, and the likelihood that viewers will learn educational content also increases” -Media as Social Partners: The Social Nature of Young Children’s Learning From Screen Media

I found this to be incredibly interesting, particularly regarding children of color and the limited amount of content that features characters that look like them. I have seen the emotional connection this causes. Doc McStuffins from the Disney Channel series, for example, is a character that my 3 year old cousin holds very dear, likely because of the fact that Doc McStuffins looks like her. The potential educational benefit that could arise from a diverse media necessitates action in the space of creating children’s shows and learning tools.