Category: Factual
& Arts TV
Date: 02.01.2005
Printable version
The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE series Child Of Our Time has commissioned new research to
find out what four-year-old children understand about ethnicity.
The research was conducted by Dr Adam Rutland and Lindsey Cameron of
the University of Kent.
The series, which begins on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE at 9.00pm on Tuesday 4 January,
interviewed over 200 children from all over the UK and found that even
though most four-year-olds know their skin colour, over half believe
it will change with age.
The programme also showed the four-year-olds pictures of children's
faces from a range of ethnic backgrounds and asked which characteristics
they would put with which face - the characteristics were kind, friendly,
helpful, hardworking, smart, clever, mean, nasty, rude, lazy, stupid
and slow.
Almost all the white children associated the white child with positive
characteristics while often associating other ethnic groups with negative
ones.
Over half the black four-year-olds interviewed made the same associations.
This suggests that while most white children connect good characteristics
with people like themselves, the same isn't the case with black children.
Dr Adam Rutland says: "This finding is in line with previous research
that suggests children are influenced by racial stereotypes at a very
young age.
"However, the white children did not show racial bias since they
were not consistently negative toward another racial group. Though the
white children's preference for their racial group may turn into racial
bias in later life if unchallenged."
Child Of Our Time began transmitting on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE in 2000 and is presented
by Professor Robert Winston.
The series producer is Dinah Lord and the executive producer is Tessa
Livingstone.
