EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Children's programming can carry underlying political themes that may surprise parents, a Canadian researcher suggests.
After analyzing 23 episodes of "Thomas and Friends," a show about a train, his friends and their adventures on a fictional island, political scientist Shauna Wilton, an assistant professor at University of Alberta, was able to identify themes that didn't seem constructive for youngsters.
"While the show conveys a number of positive political values such as tolerance, listening, communicating with others and contributing to the community, it also punishes individual initiative, opposes critique and change and relegates females to supportive roles," Wilton said in a statement.
The "Thomas and Friends" TV series is shown in 130 countries around the world.
"Storylines in several episodes that divided the characters into different social classes and punished those who tried to gain individual power," Wilton said. "Any change is seen as disrupting the natural order of things."
Wilton presented the findings at a conference of the Canadian Political Science Association.
