A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF MEDIA LITERACY PROGRAM ON COLOUR DISCRIMINATION AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN CHENNAI

science & humanities

Social norms paired with media messages in India have successfully fuelled colour discrimination in minds of people. Advertisements especially for fairness creams, have successfully constructed an ideology that decries and belittles dark skinned people to be unsuccessful, unpopular and unpleasant. Keeping in mind that children often fail to differentiate between the real world and the fantasy world of media, this study analyses the impact of media on the skin colour perceptions of young school going children. Media literacy is seen as an efficient alternative in solving issues related to content of programs. The study started with an extensive qualitative study on understanding the perceptions of young school going children on the dark skinned people. It also helped in understanding the impact of media on developing their ideology of skin colour stereotyping. Based on the results of the qualitative research a media literacy program was conducted in five schools and its impact documented. The result of this study reveals that there is a strong perception among the children that only fair skin people are beautiful and that being fair is a sign of being rich. Post the media literacy program which provided the children an analysis of the portrayal of dark skinned people in media through a video, skit and few activities, the children understood the reality and though a majority said that the programme has given them a confidence and they would not discriminate or feel discriminated, a few stood by the fact that fair is beautiful and they will want to become fair whatever it takes.

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