A new study shows how children's cartoons are helping fuel a negative view of the elderly in American society.

Tom Robinson, BYU associate professor of communications, found characters over the age of 55 in children's cartoon shows were portrayed negatively 38 percent of the time, according to a recent BYU news release.

"These stereotypes, when learned at a young age, have a lasting impact," said Robinson, in a news release. "We don't want to raise a generation fearful of growing old, or have these children rise to positions of influence and power only to dismiss the older age group because of these stereotypes."

Robinson and co-author Caitlin Anderson, who was a BYU graduate student when the research was performed, analyzed 45 hours of animated Saturday morning and after-school programming from ABC, FOX, WB, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Robinson's motivation for this study is its potentially far-reaching impact.

"I will never be female, I will never be another race, but we will all grow old," Robinson said.

This study only reinforces a concern that has been growing for decades over the negative influence of television and other forms of media on American society.

"Mass media, particularly television, form the common mainstream of contemporary culture," said world renown media researcher George Gerbner, in "The Representation of Elderly Persons in Primetime Television Advertising,"a masters thesis. "This unprecedented condition has a profound effect on the way we are socialized into our roles, including age as a social role."

These portrayals, although often negative and powerful, may sometimes be unintentional in an effort to entertain.

"I would suppose that most cartoonists, like myself, don't have the primary goal of making a social statement about the elderly in their depictions," said BYU alumni and creator of the popular comic strip "Pickles" Brian Crane. "Our main goal is to produce work that is amusing and or entertaining."

Whatever the cause or motive, this latest study says something must be done to prevent and counteract these negative stereotypes.

"Visit some old folks and make friends with them," Crane said, when asked for possible solutions. "Listen to their stories about their glory days and enjoy their perspective on what is going on in the world today. They will love telling you, and you just might learn something."

Copyright Brigham Young University 14 Aug 2006