To help youth understand how consciously and unconsciously
media shapes attitudes and behaviors by promoting certain messages.
By the end of this unit, youth will be able to:
1. Identify the range of media messages in their environment.
2. Cite examples of media stereotyping.
3. Identify ways that media can affect attitudes and behaviors.
4. Articulate how they would like to be portrayed in media.
Random Media Exercise Instructions
Video clips of people in social situations
Overhead: Statistics of Percent of Teens Who Do Not Drink
Video excerpts from "The Media and A Question of Balance"
Various media coverage of single event
St. Ides commercial with Ice Cube
Overhead: Joe Camel/Ricki Lake
Excerpts from Oprah Winfrey show
Talk Show Role Play Exercise Instructions
Laminated magazine ads
Magazines
Small Group Exercise Instructions
Video excerpts from entertainment television targeting youth
Crayons/magic markers
Newsprint or poster board
Urban Youth Campaign "Reality" PSA
Decoding Media Messages Worksheet
Unit Outline
I. Shaping Attitudes and Behavior
A. Random Media Interview
B. How Does Media Affect You and Your Environment?
C. Media Images About Youth and ATOD
II. Decoding Media Messages
A. How Do Alcohol Advertisers Target Youth?
B. Prevention Versus Advertising/The Message and PublicOpinion
C. Decoding Advertisements
D. Decoding Magazine Ads
E. Small Group Report out/Debrief in Large Group
I. Shaping
Attitudes and Behavior
(45 minutes)
Materials
Video clips of people in social situations
Overhead: Statistics on Teenagers Who Do Not Drink
Materials
Video excerpts from "The Media and a Question
of Balance"
Various coverage of single event
A. Random Media
Interview (10 minutes)
Exercise (see instructions in Appendix)
B. How Does Media Affect You and Your
Environment?(15 minutes)
Brainstorm: What have you learned from media about
teenagers and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues?
In analysis of responses, make sure the following points
are covered:
1. The broad definition of media includes billboard and
other advertising, as well as TV, print, radio, and the movies.
2. Media influences attitudes and behaviors (i.e., stereotyping
and shaping).
Show video clips of people in social situations
Ask the question - What is happening here? Again have
youth stress how media is projecting images of what is normal.
Show Overhead: Statistics on Teenagers Who Do Not Drink.
C. Media Images About Youth and ATOD(20 minutes)
Show excerpts from video for reporters "The Media and a
Question of Balance."
Discuss and show various media approaches to a single
event/issue.
Discuss teens' opinions about their images in media.
Possible questions to provoke responses:
1. Are the images you see of teenagers on television
truthful/realistic?
2. Have any of you ever been interviewed by media? Did you
like what they did with the interview? Why? Why not?
Brainstorm: What is the truth about teenagers? How are
they, really?
Explain concept of objectivity versus fairness. Dispel myth
of objectivity because people's attitudes are affected by their
environment and experiences. Therefore, know your bias and try to
be fair.
II. Decoding Media Messages (90 minutes)
Materials
St. Ides commercial with Ice Cube
Video excerpts of Oprah Winfrey show
Role Play Talk Show
Overhead: Joe Camel/Ricki Lake
Materials
Magazines which contains alcohol and tobacco ads
Laminated magazine ads
Materials
Magazines which contains alcohol and tobacco ads
Laminated magazine ads
A. How Do Alcohol Advertisers Target
Youth? (15 minutes)
Show St. Ides commercial. Analyze who is the target audience and what is the message. Discuss the use of popular entertainers.
Show Joe Camel/Ricki Lake overhead
B. Prevention Versus Advertising/The Message and Public
Opinion (30 minutes)
Show video of Oprah Winfrey excerpts
Exercise: Talk Show Role Play (see appendix for instructions)
Ask for volunteers to play:
_ host
_ prevention person
_ industry/advertiser
Do exercise a couple of times
BREAK (15 minutes)
C. Decoding Advertisements (10 minutes)
Large Group:
Handout laminated ads.
Demonstrate how to decode an ad.
Ask a few participants to volunteer to decode their laminated ad
in front of the group.
Give instructions for small group exercise with magazines.
D. Decoding Magazine Ads (20 minutes)Small Groups:
Divide youth into groups. Distribute copies of magazines.
Give each group 4-5 "Decoding Media Messages" worksheets to
record their answers.
Send youth to small group break out rooms to complete
assignment. Remind youth of the time allotted for the task.(20 minutes)
E. Small Groups Report Out/Debrief in Large
Group (15 minutes)
Debrief (15 minutes) (See appendix for instructions.)
Ask youth to report on the following: (1) What are the ads saying?
For instance, some alcoholic beverage commercials suggest
that drinking their product will make you more attractive to the
opposite sex. (2) What does alcohol really do to you? For
instance, how does it make you feel?
Ask all members of the small group to present together. Even
those who do not speak, should come up to support the others.
Ask why the teen magazines have no alcohol and tobacco
ads. Note legal/policy reasons.
LUNCH (30 minutes)
III. How Media Can Be Used
for Positive Messages (30 minutes)
Materials
Video excerpts from entertainment television targeting youth
(Fresh Prince).
Urban youth campaign PSA & poster
Newsprint or poster board
A. Entertainment Industry Video (5 minutes)
Show excerpts from entertainment television targeting
teenagers (90210, Fresh Prince, Blossom, Saved by the Bell, Gargoyles,
or others).
Discuss.
B. Creating Prevention Ads/Positive
Messages (20 minutes)
Exercise: Create Prevention Ads
(see small group instructions in appendix.)
C. Urban Youth Campaign "Reality"
PSAs(5 minutes)
Show Urban Youth Campaign PSA titled, "Reality."
Discuss images.
Introduce target marketing concept based on urban youth
campaign and teen entertainment television excerpts.
Random
Media
Interview
Exercise(10 minutes)
Random Media
Interview
Exercise continued
A P P E N D I X B
Role Playing Exercises and Worksheet
Instructions
1. Instruct participants to get out of their seats, walk around the room, and make eye contact with each other. After about
10 seconds, tell them to stop and face the person nearest to them. (If there is an odd number of participants, a trainer partners
with extra participant.)
2. Scenario: A reporter, arriving on the scene to get the story,
approaches a youth to find out what happened. The reporter
assumes the shooting is drug related.
3. Tell the paired participants that one will play the reporter, the
other the youth being interviewed. Have the pairs start their
interviews at the same time, all talking at once.
(This gives them some anonymity—less pressure to say the right thing and more incentive
to participate.)
4. After about 30 seconds, instruct everybody to switch
roles—whoever was the reporter becomes the youth being interviewed
and the youth becomes the reporter.
5. After another 30 seconds,
instruct the pairs to keep the same roles, but this time have the "youth" say something positive about
teenagers and the community, no matter how often the reporter
repeats how terrible this drive by shooting is and how awful it must be
to live in this community.
6. After another 30 seconds,
instruct participants to switch roles again, with the youth interviewed still trying to say
something positive about teenagers and the community.
7. After another 30 seconds, applaud everybody and tell them
to return to their seats.
8. Debrief (5 minutes)
Ask the group to share any positive points made about
teenagers and the community in their interviews.
Explore if and why it was difficult to think of positive things
to say.
Note that even though the 30 seconds seemed like a short period
of time, on the air the interview would get even less time—no
more than 10 seconds.
9. Promise to do more with interview techniques later in the
workshop before moving on to Unit B to brainstorm, "What have
you learned from media about teenagers and alcohol, tobacco, and
other drugs?"
1. In advance of the workshop, write the following questions
representing the opposing positions of prevention advocates and
advertisers on newsprint. Post on separate flip charts on each side of
the room:
Prevention Position
Why should teenagers not drink/smoke?
How can drinking/smoking affect the way teenagers treat
each other?
How does teenage drinking/smoking affect the community?
What policies are needed to prevent teenage drinking/smoking?
Industry/Advertisers Position
Why is it all right to advertise and promote drinking/smoking in
a free society?
Is the advertising aimed at teenagers?
Aren't alcohol/cigarettes legal products?
Shouldn't the government stay out of people's personal lives if
they want to drink/smoke?
2. Read the positions to the group indicating that they will role
play two talk shows, one on drinking and one on smoking.
Give them some time to reread the positions and ask questions about them. Provide answers if needed. (3 minutes)
3. Inform participants that the first role play talk show will be on teen drinking. Ask for volunteers to play:
The prevention person
The industry/advertiser
The rest of the group becomes the talk show audience.
As the talk show host, (can be Oprah, Tempest, etc.),
ask volunteers to come up to the front of the room and sit in seats on
each side of the host. (1 minute)
4. Pose questions of the opposing guests, drawing out their
positions and encouraging some conflict. (5 minutes)
5. Move into and take questions from the audience.
End the first role play. (5 minutes)
6. Switch to the teen smoking talk show role play.
Tell the group to review the prevention and industry/advertisers position, this
time focusing on the answers to the questions on cigarettes instead
of alcohol. Note similarities and differences.
Ask for volunteers to play:
The prevention person
The industry/advertiser
The host (if no takers, play the role again), the rest of the
group again plays the talk show audience
Have volunteers come to the front and assume their positions.
(1 minute)
7. Repeat the initial interview scene drawing out the opposing positions on teen smoking. (5 minutes)
8. Go into the audience to take questions. End the role play. (5minutes)
9. Debrief. (5 minutes)
What roles were most convincing and why?
What is needed to improve the prevention arguments?
Stress the importance of a clear definition of the problem.
What needs to be done? Stay focused when interviewed, no matter
what the question.
Small Group Exercise Instructions
Goal: To provide an opportunity for participant application of
the unit's material.
Objective: By the end of this exercise, youth will be able to:
Identify things in the environment that might influence youth attitudes
and behaviors.
Materials:
Newsprint or construction paper or poster board
Crayons or markers
Four small breakout rooms (if available)
Instructions:
1. Divide group randomly — have them count off by number up
to six, depending on group size, to create small groups of five to
six persons each.
2. Distribute paper and markers/crayons to each group.
3. (Tell participants:) In just a moment, you will be given 10
minutes to create an ad/poster with a message to youth/teenagers
about alcohol, tobacco or drug use. Your goal is to create a message
that does the following: (1) encourages youth to avoid drugs, (2)
points out the benefits of not using, and (3) warns or educates
about messages in the environment that encourage youth to use drugs.
As you create the ad, remember our discussion on the
environment. [The trainer should do a brief review here, stressing that ATOD
use is not just the problem of the individual. Point out that drug use
is also a product of several influences in one's environment
(neighborhood).]
4. Keep groups in training room, meeting in different corners
of room. If there are more than four or five groups, use a
separate room. (Put one group in each room, if breakout rooms are
available.)
5. Remind youth that the rule is that everyone participates.
Tell the group to brainstorm ideas, decide who will draw, and decide
who (can be more than one) will present the ad to the large group.
6. The trainer should move through groups quickly and freely
without disturbing the group process. However, it will be necessary
to monitor groups to ensure that they stay on task and to remind
them of the time.
7. Ask all participants to return to training room, if breakout
rooms are being used.
Debrief:
1. Show-and-Tell: Ask each group to describe their ad to the
large group.
2. Comment on whether the ad focuses on environmental or
individual issues. Is the message positive or is the focus the same
as that of mass media? Point out any glaring confusion.
(Presentation of ads will provide trainers with an instant check
on group comprehension of the concepts introduced in Units A & B.)
Group # _______________________________________________________
Name of magazine? _____________________________________________