Kinda embarrassed to admit it, but when I was like, 10-12, I thought "the south' was some separate entity from how the rest of the United States looked, and that depictions of it in stuff like family Guy (like the episode where Chris helps get a thief arrested and has to go into protective custody in "the south" and it's super undeveloped and all that all fun stuff) was something that actually existed alongside the rest of the US...

So yeah, television and such can definitely affect how people view the world, lol. I mean, I eventually figured out what stuff like satire is and that even if something takes place in a "modern" setting it doesn't have to follow reality (especially cartoons). But unfortunately a lot of people might not be able to learn stuff like that as easily on their own, and school can only do so much a lot of the time.