Children and the Media - Part 1: Inventing Innocence
The course of the 20th century has seen a number of moral panics focused on two areas; the media, in the shape of things like film, television and video and the susceptibility of "vulnerable groups" to media messages about sex and violence (among other things).
This series of films brings the two together, under the generic title "Children and the Media", to explore the relationship between the media and moral panics through the eyes of a range of leading academics.
The first film in the series - Inventing Innocence - lays the groundwork for further films by looking briefly at how, over the past 200 years, the idea of children as a vulnerable social group was socially constructed. The film includes contributions from:
Prof. Chas. Critcher (UK)
Prof. Catharine Lumby (Australia)
Dr. Charles Krinsky (North America).
Although the series focus is specifically the media and moral panics, the films are also useful for teachers and students looking for a different take on audience effects - particularly those models, such as the hypodermic syringe / magic bullet, that argue for direct and long-lasting media effects on susceptible audiences.