Media and commercial influences on teens

When I started Contraception Education I would never have imagined the ramifications of the development of Contraception the Board Game.

I am in education, and was originally trying to improve knowldge and awareness of contraception, to prevent unintended pregnancies. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS), however goes much much further than that. The thrust of the TPS is to help all young people achieve their full potential, raise their aspirations for their futures, learn delaying, consenting and permission-giving and permission-asking skills, of course also learn how to manage the risks of alcohol and drugs in relation to sex, and learn how to navigate services and systems to get what they really need, improving life chances and tackling poverty and inequality.

In February 2007 I made another connection when I was asked to comments in the MEN about the sexualisation of girls through play and toys. A recent report published by the American Psychological Association showed that our culture delivers many messages about sexualization of adult women and that this in turn influences girls. Parents, schools, and peers sometimes contribute to this, and that girls themselves sometimes take on a sexualized identity . One theory has suggested that this sexualization of may have negative consequences for all young people. The report suggests that images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls' self-image and healthy development having cognitive and emotional consequences, consequences for mental and physical health, and impact on development of a healthy sexual self-image.

It goes on to suggest that parents have a role to play in encouraging girls to value themselves for who they are, rather than how they look, and to teach boys to value girls as friends, sisters, and girlfriends, rather than as sexual objects. The report proposes that with the help of their carers and parents, young people can learn “media literacy skills”, which in turn will help them to resist the message that how girls look is what matters.

Meanwhile, along came the Bratz, a prime example of a commercial enterprise which may well insidiously reinforce the very messages which have been highlighted by the APA as potentially harmful – the tiny bodies, the flawless complexion, the symmetrical features, the immaculate hair – looking a certain way, but not actually doing that much. It was said with tongue in cheek that my alternative was “Geekz”, dolls who would care about the environment.
I said, amongst other things "I'd prefer it if a manufacturer somewhere came up with a doll which reinforced the importance of being healthy, happy and looking after your fellow human beings…..Why can't there be a doll which is concerned about reducing its carbon footprint."

I would dearly love to see a doll representing an ordinary person (I mean someone like you and me, not a model) achieving extraordinary things and really challenging male and female stereotyping.

Read the APA report and associated comments at http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1000/1000689_bratz_dangers_or_role_models.html