Actually, Iâd argue that while OP is close to the right answer, thatâs not quite it. I think itâs less about the childrenâs media as much as it is the fact that the refuse to engage with âproblematic mediaâ - which does, indeed, lead to people only engaging with childrenâs media in many cases, as itâs more likely to be âcleanâ and free of complications.
Problematic media is deemed morally evil regardless of the actual lesson behind it. I mean, youâve got people on here refusing to read 1984 because âitâs misogynisticâ, completely disregarding what role that plays in the story, and dismissing every other detail of the book, because this one detail is so deeply offensive, the rest of the story contains nothing of value. And then thereâs the âWhy do we have to read old sad stuffy books?â crowd to make things worse.
My point isnât that the only way to learn is to read classics - many of the classics we have were determined by chishet white guys. Thereâs sometimes very uncomfortable parts, and I understand why people canât always sit through them. But the solution to this would be to read more books by people of color, by women, by queer people, and thatâsâŠnot happening. Even asking young queer people to read queer history can be like pulling teeth, because itâs easier to get your information off of tiktok or tumblr in nice digestible posts and short, snappy videos. And why read something that might make you question your view of the world, or at least get you thinking, when you could read that mindless enemies to lovers coffee shop au that makes you feel happy instead?
Iâm all for fanfic! Iâm all for comfort stories! Iâm all for protesting the classics that have been determined by cishet white guys, and Iâm all for finding discomfort in things like casual sexism and racism in books! But I donât think the solution is âthis story is inherently problematic regardless of whatever the greater message is, and I refuse to read anything but my fluffy fanfics.â
But now youâve got a generation of kids that want a clean cut story with a nice, well defined message. The second you get into complicated issues like homophobia - even if youâre a queer author - your story becomes problematic. Better to engage with something affirming that makes you feel good, with morals that align with your world view. This is the generation of âMaybe the curtains are just blue!â, of rejecting literary analysis because itâs âridiculous, the author didnât have a deeper meaning.â So youâve got kids who lack reading comprehension because theyâre refusing to engage with anything that has any element to it that isnât pre-approved. Theyâre not approaching anything with an open mind, theyâre not going into something that might be complex, because it might conflict with their morals, and in their mind, engaging with something problematic is a reflection of your personal morals, and prove that you are a bad person.
So what youâre left with is childrenâs media, which often challenges greater issues at a comfortable distance, with defined âgoodâ and âbad.â The good guys win, the bad guys learn, the message is obvious. Childrenâs media is the least likely to be offensive, and the least likely to be problematic. But thatâs a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.
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