Role Models, Mentors, and Media Influences

Autor/inn/en	Kearney, Melissa S.; Levine, Phillip B.
Titel	Role Models, Mentors, and Media Influences
Quelle	In: Future of Children, 30 (2020) 1, S.83-106 (24 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1054-8289
Schlagwörter	Role Models; Mentors; Mass Media Effects; Child Development; Socioeconomic Influences; Family Income; Neighborhoods; Teacher Influence; Low Income Groups; At Risk Persons; Time Management; Age Differences; Adults; Peer Relationship; Family Relationship; Racial Differences; STEM Education; Gender Differences; Youth Programs + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Identifikationsfigur; Kindesentwicklung; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Familieneinkommen; Neighbourhoods; Nachbarschaft; Risikogruppe; Zeitmanagement; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Peer-Beziehungen; Rassenunterschied; STEM; Geschlechterkonflikt; Jugendsofortprogramm
Abstract	Children from low-income backgrounds are less likely to have economically successful role models and mentors in their own families and neighborhoods, and are more likely to spend time with media. In this article, Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine review the theoretical and empirical evidence on how these external forces can influence children's development. The authors also document income-based differences in exposure to social influences. They show that well-designed programs involving role models, mentors, and the media can be deployed deliberately, effectively, and often inexpensively to improve children's social and economic outcomes. After highlighting the theoretical reasons why role models, mentors, and the media could alter a child's life trajectory, the authors report a descriptive analysis showing differences over time and across income class in exposure to these influences. They show that compared to children four decades ago, today's children spend much more time in school and with media, and less time with parents, peers, and other adults. They also show that young children with low socioeconomic status (SES) spend considerably more time exposed to media and considerably less time in school, as compared to higher-SES children, and encounter very different role models in their neighborhoods. Kearney and Levine focus on large-scale analyses that credibly claim that a specific intervention had a causal impact on children's outcomes. The beneficial impact of role models is evident in teachers' ability to positively influence the educational performance and career decisions of students who share the teacher's gender or race. Children who participate in formal mentoring programs see improvements in their school performance and are more likely to avoid the criminal justice system. Exposure to specific media content with positive messaging can lead to improved social outcomes. The authors conclude that interventions designed to improve the social influences encountered by children can make an important contribution toward the goal of increasing rates of upward mobility for children in low-income homes in the United States. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. 267 Wallace Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Tel: 609-258-6979; e-mail: FOC@princeton.edu; Web site: http://futureofchildren.org/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01