It is already evident that education plays a big role in how students perceive different aspects of life. As Considine (2006) states, kids love movies. In a typical classroom, when a teacher announces it’s movie day, students seem to stop what they’re doing and be fully engaged because it is different from the typical day of lecturing. Films are often shown in classrooms for educational purposes, however, sometimes these films contain stereotypes of people with disabilities.
Safron (1998) explains that film is not only considered a reflection of society, it is also a critical educational function. Specifically, she talks about how people in wheelchairs are often used in film to present “humor, evil, helplessness, confinement, heroism, and dehumanization”. This creates the public to believe the stereotypes being presented in film. Safran (1998) believes that encouraging positive attitudes and social acceptance of people with disabilities is crucial, especially in education. Chervenak (2006) also talks about how two films are often used in middle school classrooms: Simon Birch and The Mighty. These films use stereotypes to depict the characters with disabilities as sweet and innocent, or “comic misadventure”. They also give off the idea that disability is pitiable and undesirable (2006). Similarly, Maples, Arndt, and White (2010) look at the film Of Mice And Men which is played in many English classrooms. They discuss how students should learn to recognize the stereotypical representations of disability in films, because the character who has a disability is often seen as “slow and being of overly large in stature”. Many people misunderstand the character’s intentions and make fun of his size and simple-mindedness (2010). Films like this allow students to attach stereotypes to people with disabilities, which can be a major issue.
Clearly, education plays a major role in how students perceive different aspects of life. When films are shown that include negative stereotypes of people with disabilities, it allows young children to believe it is realistic. This has damaging effects for not only the students’ perceptions, but how they may treat those with disabilities in the future.