With the diverse cultures with which we co-exist domestically and the reality of globalization that places us in contact with cultures worldwide, it is important that we better understand how children learn and utilize the ideas and values inherent in their multicultural worldview. This means the children of today and tomorrow, along with all of their other developmental challenges, will have to be multiculturally sensitive in order to function and thrive in contemporary society. Hence, this Handbook explores, in an integrative and comprehensive fashion, the principles of child development and concepts of multiculturalism within a framework of the institutions of socialization that have the potential of contributing toward a child's understanding and development of a multicultural worldview. This exploration of the child and multicultural concepts is framed by placing emphasis on television and other forms of electronic and print media as some of the most powerful, emerging, and contemporary agents of socialization.
