• Quiz

Through this activity, parents examine some of the positive and negative messages that are prevalent in print media and discuss the impact these messages have on children.

1+ hour

Flip chart, chalkboard, or white board
Magazines
Poster board (one per group of four to five participants)
Glue or tape
Markers
Notebook paper (one sheet per participant)
Pens or pencils (one per participant)

Many people are not aware of the power of the media and the impact it has on our children. Mass media has become a major influence shaping the attitudes, values, and behaviors of children. Over the past 30 years, the delivery and scope of mass media have changed dramatically. Children are exposed to many forms of media: television, computers, video games, magazines, billboards, radio, comic books, audio cassettes, movies, etc. According to Dr. David Walsh, Director of the National Institute on Media and the Family, media contain messages about attitudes, values, and behavior, and are teaching them to our children. Considering the number of media messages children are confronted with and the amount of time they spent with media, it is not surprising they are learning from media. The question is: what are they learning? Media is such a dominant force in the Information Age, it is imperative that parents and other concerned adults become aware of its power and develop strategies to make wise media choices. MediaWise ®TM is a powerful tool that provides educators, parents, and communities with an innovative, action-oriented solution to the question: "What can we do about the powerful influence of media on our children's lives?"

Prepare for the session by asking each participant to bring a copy of one magazine that their child subscribes to, reads, or that is frequently found in the home to the session. Let participants know that they will be cutting the magazine. You may also want participants to bring their own scissors.

Gather the materials needed for the session (see Materials section).

1. Draw a vertical line down the middle of the flip chart, the chalkboard, or the white board. Label one side "negative messages" and the other "positive messages."

2. Lead a discussion of the attitudes and behaviors that concern the group members with regard to their children. Record the list on the "negative messages" side of the flip-chart, chalkboard, or white board. The list may include:

• Use/abuse of alcohol
• Use of illegal drugs
• Poor eating habits and/or eating disorders
• Cursing
• Disrespect toward others
• Racism
• Sexism
• Dislike of school/learning
• Vanity or excessive concern about appearances
• Excessive materialism
• Bullying or violent behavior toward others
• Disrespect toward own religious upbringing and/or others' religious beliefs

3. Ask the participants to record the list on their own paper. Next, ask each participant to rank the list in two ways:

• First, ask them to rank the list based which attitudes or behaviors they feel are the biggest social concerns regarding young people. For example, if alcohol use is considered by a parent to be the biggest social concern, that behavior should be ranked number 1.
• Second, ask them to rank the list based on their own worries or realities with their children. For example, although a parent may feel alcohol use is the biggest social concern for young people, that parent may be personally concerned with his or her own child's attitude toward staying in school. In this case, dislike of school/learning would be ranked number 1.

4. Tally the group's number 1 choices for each set of rankings. Lead a brief discussion, if necessary, of any surprises in the rankings.

5. Divide the participants into groups based on their number 1 concern for their own children. For example, the parents who are most concerned about illegal drug use would form one group. Try to keep the groups to 4 or 5 people. If more than 5 participants have identified the same issue as their primary concern, you may either form two groups around that issue or ask some individuals to work on the issue they ranked second. Or, if a top societal concern is not a top concern for individual parents, you may want to ask a group to cover that societal concern.

6. Distribute a poster board, glue or tape, and a marker to each group. Ask each group to label the poster board with their topic of concern and then draw a vertical line down the middle of the poster board, dividing it into two equal parts. They should label one part "negative messages" and the other part "positive messages."

7. Direct participants to their magazines and give them ten minutes to find as many negative examples as they can of the attitude or behavior they selected as their main concern. Once they have cut out the examples, they should attach them to the poster board in the part labeled "negative messages."

8. As a large group, refer back to the list of attitudes and behaviors created earlier. Brainstorm positive attitudes and behaviors that counteract each of the negative attitudes and behaviors on the list. Record the positive attitudes and behaviors on the flip chart, chalkboard, or white board in the "positive messages" section. For example, a positive alternative to the use/abuse of alcohol could be using alcohol responsibly or not using alcohol at all. Positive alternatives to racism could be tolerance, respect of differences, celebrating diversity, etc. The positive attitudes or behaviors should be placed across from the corresponding negative attitudes and behaviors.

9. Give the groups ten minutes to find an examples of positive attitudes of behavior relating to their issue to counteract each example of a negative attitude or behavior that they attached to their poster board. The positive examples should be attached to the "positive messages" part of their poster board.

10. Ask each group to present their poster board to the other groups. They should briefly explain the concern they selected and address the following questions:

• Was it easier to find negative or positive messages?
• Do the positive messages regarding this issue outweigh the negative or vice versa?
• Were there any surprises?

11. After the groups have presented their findings, discuss the following as a large group:

• In general, do you think there are more positive of negative messages to be found in this type of media?
• How does it vary from magazine to magazine? How might the messages in other types of media be similar or different?
• What messages are most prevalent in women's/children's/health/men's/news/etc. magazines?
• How do these positive and negative messages influence our children?
• What can we do about the number and type of negative messages that our kids are exposed to through media?

1. Have each parent select a magazine that contained messages he or she considered negative. For example, a woman's magazine may contain advertising that glamorizes smoking. Ask each parent to write a letter to the editor regarding the negative messages found in the magazine.

2. This activity can be adapted to include other forms of media. For example, one person in each group could select a different form of media (e.g., television, movies, video games, the Internet, billboards, etc.) to examine for positive and negative messages. The different forms of media can then be compared. Discussion questions:

• Are certain messages more prevalent in certain forms of media?
• Is one form of media particularly strong in positive (or negative) messages?
• What steps can you take to accentuate the positive messages and protect your children against the negative messages in each form of media?

Prepared by Education Strategies for the
National Institute on Media and the Family