Media Awareness for Guides

special initiatives : media awareness for girl guides : media awareness for guides - overview

Guides

Welcome! In your role as a Guide leader, you can be instrumental in fostering the critical thinking skills necessary to counter the powerful influences of popular culture on young women.

As you introduce the activities in this section to your girls, keep the following points in mind:

Keep it positive
The media is an important part of kids' lives. Playing on negative themes will be counter-productive to helping them develop a more critical eye.

Encourage input
Talking about media is something that will quickly
engage your girls; after all, they are all experts in this field! So invite them to contribute their ideas and thoughts to the dialogue.

Involve parents
Keep parents informed about your activities, especially if they involve monitoring media at home. If any of your parents have media-related jobs, ask them to come in and speak to your Unit.

ACTIVITIES FOR GUIDES

Advertising and Consumerism

Examining our consumer culture and understanding how marketing works

Stereotyping (including gender portrayal)

Recognizing media stereotypes and understanding their impact

Body Image and Self-Esteem

The medias' influence on girls' self image

The Internet

Learning to be safe, responsible and wise online

Television

Television violence and stereotypes and how TV differs from "real life"

Media Violence

Understanding media violence