Kids media is the single most important thing in the lives of children all over the world. What they see in movies, television books, and all other new media has a direct impact in their development. As such, a project out of the UK brings us Detective Dot, who uses new media to teach kids about gender equality, free trade, and women studies.
Other outlets like Google and Yahoo bring children knowledge on a wider, more reckless scale. Not to mention that it also feeds on societal norms, which Detective Dot breaks down.
Detective Dot Fuses Storytelling and New Media
Created by Sophie Deen, Detective Dot is an 8-year-old girl with rampant mischief. She is a coder with a very special power: she can bring the objects around her to life. This comes in handy and kickstarts entire adventures where she sets out to discover where these everyday objects came from.
The Importance of Detective Dot and Google or Yahoo Search Engines
In recent times, the global market is built on consumerism. People buy things they do or don’t need for the sake of keeping up with the times, and children are the first to be affected by that. It’s no longer a strange sight to see a toddler holding an iPad or even playing with it. Often times, they grow up having no idea where these devices came from, just knowing that they exist. Detective Dot brings a change to all of that.
Not only is the main character of the story a girl, but she is also a person of color. This kind of diversity is poorly seen in the media. Sophie Deen makes it a point to highlight that 2.9% of characters in kids cartoons are black, and 0% of princesses in these cartoons are engineers. Detective Dot is both.
While Google gives users a search engine that can tell them anything regardless of age or gender, Detective Dot is catered for children. She speaks their language. This is why she is so valuable. Platforms like Yahoo will not have filtered specifically geared toward children unless it is controlled by a parent.
Detective Dot Tears Down Stereotypes
Needless to say, one of the goals behind getting this cartoon on children’s radar is to encourage positive representation. Children’s media is homogenous across many cultures, highlighting women as weak and men as stronger. Detective Dot is a positive role model for all girls, especially those in minorities. Not only that, but Detective Dot uses a great approach in telling her stories: technology.
Children today are wired to the technology around us. They understand it and grow up with it. As such, this kind of show encourages early curiosity and gives them an education that will definitely be useful in the future. Detective Dot figures out the past and present in things like memory chips to more abstract ones like amnesia. These objects are characters as well, and they travel all over the world with the Detective to tell their own stories.
Programming, coding, and robotics will soon become building blocks of entire nations. As such, Detective Dot will be launched in hardcopy, digital books and even as a curriculum for teachers who would like to include her adventures in the classroom.
Detective Dot Was Made with Education in Mind
Having been a teacher herself, founder Sophie Deen has tailored Detective Dot’s stories to align completely with the primary school curriculum. She and her team also incorporated computer science and language for an enhanced learning experience.
Parents can record their own narration of the Detective’s stories, and the digital books come with games that teach children about maths, geography, and coding in a fun, engaging way.
The most important aspect of these books is probably their themes. They discuss the importance of preserving the environment, the importance of diversity and gender equality and education. It encourages girls and boys to become curious about the STEAM subjects and enlightens them on social issues like fair trade and women in history.
All in all, these are stories that need to be known. Times have changed, and so has today’s technology. Since children will be growing up around it and seeing it around every corner, it is only fair they know as much about the world they live in as possible.
Detective Dot Teaches Kids About Gender Equality Better than Google and Yahoo
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