Fictional Reality Environments in Child’s Learning: Evaluating Screen Institution in <i>Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone and My Kids and I</i>

Abstract

The Nigerian youth’s restiveness and licentious acts have come under the purview of the public interest in recent times. Consequently, the rise of ritual killings and other social vices amongst the younger generation in the country questions the teaching model and learning environments designed to impart knowledge to Nigerian children. The objective of this study is to evaluate the aptitudes of fantastical and realistic film environments in child’s learning and nurturing. The study, through the adoption of the content analysis approach of qualitative research method, evaluated the impact of the fantasy genre and fictional reality film environments on children and thus analysed. Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone (A British Fantasy Film) and My Kids and I (A Nigerian Fictional Reality Film). The study utilised Skolnick Weisberg's theory of Mise-en-place: Setting the Stage and Nkemakonam Aniukwu’s Screen Institution Postulation, in examining the influence of fantastical and fictional reality film environments in child’s learning. The study discovered that some films produced in the Nollywood film industry have the capacity of thwarting the child’s mind and this could lead to misconceptions of certain principles and standards of the society and subsequently change his behaviour towards other members of the public. Parents should also play a vital role in monitoring and curtailing what the children are watching on their screen interface.