Saving the kids : an honors creative project (HONRS 499)

Abstract

Thoughts of suicide and the beginnings of eating disorders peak in intensity during the early teenage years of a person's life. This statistic can be, in part, associated with the increase in media awareness during these years as well as a general dissatisfaction with the inability of the average human body to transform into the stereotypical advertising image. With study and understanding of the advertising industry and how it works, students can learn to identify and overcome the negative feelings of self-worth that are key to the success of marketing. Through a detailed lesson-plan, real-life examples of the images that infiltrate their world every day, and hands-on projects to get them started in a media-savvy direction, sixth graders at Greenfield Middle School will be given the tools they will need to become more aware consumers, and interested people for years to come will have the resources at hand to spread the lesson again and again.