Media Distribution

FAMILY AND SOCIAL STUDIES (Subject)

This subject is made up of several individual titles and three sub-series:

The ABC's of Canadian Family Life series

  • C is For Child Abuse
    Child abuse knows no social or economic barriers. This program examines the scale of the problem, focusing on questions such as why girls are abused more often than boys; what kinds of people are abusive parents and is it usually only one of them; if so, how does the non-abusive parent react?
    6 minutes

  • D is for Divorce
    The steady rise in divorce in the western world has been accompanied by a liberalization of Canada's divorce laws. This trigger program presents the various grounds and most common causes for divorce and looks at the effects of divorce on both children and parents.
    10 minutes

  • F is for Female Labour Force
    This program explores the causes and consequences of the dramatic increase of married women in the work force. It looks at what sectors of the economy women are working in, whether they have equal opportunity for career advancement, and asks why women earn so much less than men.
    8 minutes

  • J is for Joy of Families
    The family has withstood many changes within recent generations. This program looks at some of the reasons for its survival. The effects of technological changes on the family are discussed and several Canadians tell why their families are important to them.
    7 minutes

  • O is for Old People
    Ten percent of Canadians are 65 years of age or older, and more than 25 percent of these people live below the poverty line. This program asks why so many of our old people are confined to institutions; why mental disorders are the main reason for their hospital stays; why two out of three widows live in poverty; and how we can be more responsive to the needs of the elderly.
    6 minutes

  • S is for Single Parent Families
    Every tenth family in Canada is a single parent family and their numbers are increasing at three times the rate of two parent families. This program looks at the men and women who raise their children alone and the many difficulties they face in terms of finances, finding adequate housing and daycare, and coping with loneliness.
    8 minutes

  • V is for Voluntary Childlessness
    Twenty-five percent of couples now marrying choose to remain childless. The result can be seen in the declining birthrate and diminishing family sizes. This trigger film looks at reasons for having or not having children, pointing out that while, for some couples, childlessness is liberating, one-third of a million babies are born in Canada each year.
    8 minutes

  • W is for Wife Abuse
    Eight hundred abused wives sought help recently in Vancouver within an 18 month period, and it is estimated that in any year there are 50,000 abused wives in Toronto alone. This program sets the issue in an historical context, asking why there are so few convictions for this offence and what can be done about this problem.
    8 minutes

Adjust your Set: the Static is Real
This program addresses the issues of power dynamics between men and women. It includes dramatic vignettes on emotional manipulation, subtle threats of violence, harassment of disabled women and more. It was developed for use in lectures and workshops to encourage students to talk about their experiences of harassment on campus. A facilitator's manual is also included. Co-sponsored by University or Toronto Information Commons, University of Windsor, and York University
17 minutes / 1994 / closed captioned

Learning Through Play series

4 programs, 26-28 minutes each / 1976
7 modules, 23-27 minutes each

  • No. 1 - Rhyme and Reason
    Focuses on the process of cognitive development in children.
    28 minutes

  • No. 2 - The I and the Others
    Shows how play contributes to emotional and social growth.
    26 minutes

  • No. 3 - Toying with Reality
    Deals with how the right kind of play stimulates growth and development.
    27 minutes

  • No. 4 - Playspace
    Shows how ordinary living space can be made into a constructive play area.
    27 minutes

  • Modules
    23-27 minutes each:
    Adult Role in Play
    Children's Playspace
    Coping with Problems
    Dramatic Play
    Pliable Materials
    Social Development
    Waterplay

Right Ways and Wrong Ways
In eleven dramatized scenes, six patient counselling situations are illustrated. Each scene shows the "wrong" way of talking to a patient about a prescription (3 scenes); determining the patient's level of knowledge (2 scenes); handling a talkative patient (2 scenes); discussing a potentially embarrassing situation (1 scene); compliance assessment and counselling (2 scenes); conducting a medication history (1 scene).
30 minutes / 1982

Well Being of the Elderly series

A three-part program for nursing and elder care training by M. Jean Wilson and Anna Jean Rouse, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.
Total running time for series: 65 minutes / 1978

  • Part One: An Administrator's Approach
    Douglas Rapelje, Director of the Senior Citizen's Dept., Regional Municipality of Niagara, discusses an administrator's approach to the subject of care for senior citizens.
    38 minutes

  • Part Two: Portraits
    Six senior citizens discuss their daily lives and express their opinions on aging and society's attitude toward the elderly.
    17 minutes

  • Part Three: Youthful Perspectives
    Following a brief introduction, Prof. Rouse talks to a high school student and three first-year Nursing students about their respective attitudes toward the elderly and whether or not these attitudes were significantly changed as a result of actual encounters with the elderly.
    10 minutes