Issue:

Young people’s decisions about sex are influenced by what they see and hear in the media. Rarely does the media show sex or its consequences realistically.

Project:

Teens are being taught to take the “me” out of “media” by learning to separate what they really think and believe from what the media tells them to believe.

Result:

Through an innovative blend of media literacy and health education, this new Jane Fonda Center curriculum, Media Madness, is teaching teens life-long lessons about standing up for themselves and limiting how much influence others have over their sexual attitudes and actions.

Teens who have been given this healthy dose of media skepticism become aware that the media’s goal is to make money--not to provide sound guidance for their sexual behavior. Teens come to understand that they live in a real world--not a media fantasy world--and that they need to be in control of their own attitudes and actions. Teens learn to set a stopping point in expressing sexual feelings despite negative modeling by the media and resist pressure from peers who echo the media’s messages about sex.