Reasons to study the Media
There are advertisements everywhere you look these days. Students need to be aware of all the tricks and games advertisers play on you. With this knowledge you will easily succeed in life.
One of the reasons it is important for students to learn about the media is eventually teenagers will be the ones buying products they will need/want for life. If they are aware of advertisers techniques people can make more informed decisions. A good example of this is how fast food companies dress up their food in advertisements to make it look better. Photographers will take hundreds of shots when the item is at its prime. The point of sharing this is because if you know things like that you can make more informed decisions.
Another thing you need to be aware of is all the discrimination and stereotypes in the media. In 2000, of 12000 news stories aired by three American networks, only 1% was about Latino people or issues. In that 1%, 80% of the time they were negative stories. When people see news like this the immediately put a label on an entire race. If children learn about this in school they can realize that it is just a news story.
Something else you need to realize is that advertisements make people do things they would not normally do. Say a young girl sees a model in an ad for a make-up product, that model has most likely been photo shopped to a point that is nearly impossible for anyone to reach. The girl who has learned about this will realize what the advertiser has done to the picture. She would know that she does not need to look that beautiful and that the make-up will not make her look like that. On the other hand, the girl that has not learned about this will think she has to look like the model and buy the make-up. When she notices she is not looking as beautiful as the model she may get sad or depressed but really it is an impossible standard to meet.
These are three of the many reasons students should study the
One of the reasons it is important for students to learn about the media is eventually teenagers will be the ones buying products they will need/want for life. If they are aware of advertisers techniques people can make more informed decisions. A good example of this is how fast food companies dress up their food in advertisements to make it look better. Photographers will take hundreds of shots when the item is at its prime. The point of sharing this is because if you know things like that you can make more informed decisions.
Another thing you need to be aware of is all the discrimination and stereotypes in the media. In 2000, of 12000 news stories aired by three American networks, only 1% was about Latino people or issues. In that 1%, 80% of the time they were negative stories. When people see news like this the immediately put a label on an entire race. If children learn about this in school they can realize that it is just a news story.
Something else you need to realize is that advertisements make people do things they would not normally do. Say a young girl sees a model in an ad for a make-up product, that model has most likely been photo shopped to a point that is nearly impossible for anyone to reach. The girl who has learned about this will realize what the advertiser has done to the picture. She would know that she does not need to look that beautiful and that the make-up will not make her look like that. On the other hand, the girl that has not learned about this will think she has to look like the model and buy the make-up. When she notices she is not looking as beautiful as the model she may get sad or depressed but really it is an impossible standard to meet.
These are three of the many reasons students should study the