Parents play a significant role in the ways that the media influences their teenagers. While a parent can’t always be there to determine what shows their teen watches or who their teen idolizes, a parent can arm a teen with critical thinking skills that will enable the teenager to think through the harmful messages which are aimed his/her way.
Time Required: a lifetime
Here's How:
- Be involved with your teen. This is not to say that you should be with your teenager every minute of the day. It means that you should know what is going on in his/her life. Spend time together, talk to your teen and keep those lines of communication open.
- Set limits at home for viewing television, magazines and listening to music. Do not allow violent messages in any media to become what your teen watches or listens to. Limit the amount of time you allow your teen to watch television.
- Help your teen become media literate. Pick out an ad in a magazine or on television and ask your teen these questions: Who’s behind it? What is their motivation? What do they want from you? How does this song, movie, television show or commercial make you feel? Do they want you to feel that way? Why?
- Encourage your teen to think about their teen idols and put them in perspective. Why does your teen like them? How did they get to where they are? What values does the teen idol have? Does their idol add value to your teen’s life or do they make your teen feel like she needs to change to fit in?
- Model good media literacy behavior. Don’t fall for ads or messages that get you to buy the latest and the greatest new gadget. Make your idols earn your recognition and respect through good work, not how they look.
Tips:
- Offer alternative idols for your teen by involving him/her in a mentoring program.
- Avoid having a television or computer in your teen’s room where you will not be able to manage the media message given to him/her.
- Stay current with the trends. When the media’s message is personal to your teenager – say it’s about a teen idol your teen admires – you need to have the whole story, then talk to your teen about it. If you make insinuations or generalizations about something your teen enjoys, or someone they like, your teen will shut you out. It is very hard to open the lines of communication up again when this happens.
- Do you agree that using the real world is a great way to teach your teen?
Parenting Quizzes for Parents of Teens
