Research Project

Despite television's prevalence in children's lives, the sociopolitical themes in children’s media are rarely critically examined, often dismissed as unimportant or absent because of the audience’s age. This is especially evident in the theme of policing, which is present in a myriad of children’s media in varying degrees of intensity. To address this research gap, this study examines representations of police in three children’s entertainment TV series and films through a close viewing of three shows featuring prominent police officer characters in order to conduct thematic analysis. Specifically, season one of Paw Patrol, season one of Transformers: Rescue Bots, and the first Zootopia film. The results of this analysis reveal that these characters and their roles in the narrative convey specific, positive messages about the police and their intended role in society, implying that their presence is paramount to its efficient and safe functioning, and, as a result, should supersede the role of citizens or their chosen representatives. Beyond discussing the presence and broader undertones of these themes, this study also argues for their potential impact on young viewers by analyzing past research on media persuasiveness. This is in the hope of encouraging further long-term research into the direct role these messages play in shaping the opinions of the children who watch them.