Teen Sexual Health

Teen Workshop Modules

Media Literacy: Exploring The Impact Of These Messages

Estimated Time: 10 Minutes

Procedure:

1. Group Discussion:

What do you notice about the messages?
Do they fall more into one category than another? If so, what do you think that's about?
What do the messages tell women about being female? Men about being male?
How do these messages affect how people see and feel about themselves?
Which ones make it easy for people to make healthy decisions about dating and relationships?
Which ones make it difficult for people to make healthy decisions about dating and relationships?
Which of these messages has the most impact on youth culture?

2. Summarize that, on the whole, the messages we get in the media do not seem to promote healthy relationships or sexuality. You may want to bring things back to the Healthy Sexuality Flower and ask for examples of media messages that would support healthy sexuality. It may be easiest to look at gender stereotypes in the media. Emphasize that blindly following gender stereotypes can put both men and women at risk. For example, young men may feel pressure to have sex before they are ready, or have multiple partners. Young woman may feel pressure to not carry or talk about condoms for fear of being labeled a slut.

3. Group Discussion:

Whose reality do these messages reflect?
Do they show the reality of youth from different ethno-cultural groups? How might this affect youth from different cultural backgrounds?
Do you think these messages reflect the realities of the producer, actor, and /or model's own lives (their values, attitudes, experiences)? (Or, are they based on what will "sell"-sensationalism?) If not, why would they choose to portray life in this way?

4. Working individually, have students trace their hand in the middle of the page. Give the following instructions:

On the inside of your hand, write down all the media messages that fit with the beliefs and values of your family.
On the outside of your hand, write down all the media messages that contradict the beliefs and values and your family.
On the side of the page, write down what would make it possible to discuss with other members of your family media messages and how they fit with your family beliefs and values.

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