Week 11 Readings

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Sorry for the late post! I think my midterm season seems to have come a couple weeks after everyone else’s.

tumblr_inline_ml53cwSSGx1qheoy4(Sherlock anyone?)

Anyways, how did everyone’s anti-ad end up? I really liked the assignment and I think if I were teaching media literacy I would definitely use it in a classroom (especially with teenagers!).

On the topic of readings, I (once again) found this week’s readings interesting. However, I actually found more interest in Sterheimer’s chapter than the Harris and Bargh report (article? research?). I have always found the connection between media and eating disorders and obesity really fascinating so I was very intrigued by this section of the book. The biggest takeaway I took was that  there are different responses to media depending on the person consuming it (p.204). I think this is a really important point to note when looking at any “affects” of media, from violence to sexuality and now health. I did find Sterheimer’s history of “fasting girls” and the changes in societal perceptions about weight really interesting since I had never heard about most of it. I do agree with her statement that media can contribute to body dissatisfaction but not necessarily eating disorders. I know many of us can feel, after reading the September issue of Vogue for example, not too comfortable in our own bodies. I’m trying to think of ways that we could combat this, but I can’t think of anything that is beyond the individual’s responsibility (i.e. putting down the magazine once they feel uncomfortable, searching for body-positive types of media). I wish there was some sort of anti-media magazine that had realistic and unairbrushed models (men AND women!). I know American Eagle has taken to not photoshopping models for their lingerie line, but I think there should be more than just advertisements that take this approach. Any ideas?

The next reading was the Harris and Bargh study about food preferences and the influence of television on eating. The point they seemed to repeat time and time again (and even tested) was that perceived taste is the most important determining  factor for healthy and unhealthy food preferences. How the heck do we fight something that is inherent? Genetic even?? I know they gave some solutions like PSAs, parent-child communication, and reducing exposure to unhealthy message on TV. However, if we are built with a taste preference, how do we change it? I did find it interesting that their study found that the relationship between early TV viewing and unhealthy eating continues into early adulthood (p. 14). I wonder if they did a longer study if the same findings would continue through adulthood and on-wards? Do any of you feel like watching TV when you are younger caused you eat unhealthy? I will say that I think I fell privy to the “free toy” thing, especially if it was for a show or movie or something that I really liked. I mean, who doesn’t want a Hello Kitty watch with their kid’s meal??

November 9th

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Sternheimer Ch. 8 Media Health Hazards

This chapter was more upsetting rather than surprising. Learning about obesity and eating disorders is never a cheery subject, however it is a very important one. This chapter started out talking about the “inactivity and overeating with ads of junk food creating a child obesity machine.” The media creates many things along with this obesity machine such as impossible standards of beauty, low self-esteem, social rejections, overall body dissatisfaction, damaging habits and so on. The chapter explains that the link between obesity and the media/TV is weaker than we are told. (Shocking something is dramatized to the public yet again) Adults are more likely to be overweight then kids and minority children are more likely to be overweight than white children. Pointing fingers and blaming the media however will not solve these health and social issues it just causes further tension and frustration. As I have always said the media isn’t going anywhere education from others is really the only option. You can’t hide everything away from the youth. When the article talked about eating disorders and how rare yet serious they are I thought it was interesting that several countries had created a minimum BMI for models that they had to follow. The U.S cannot officially created a minimum BMI but individual companies can decide what models they want based off a relative BMI. I also thought it was interesting that TV doesn’t really affect eating disorders as it does for the obesity epidemic. I think it is important to take note that they issues aren’t just for women and children. Men and adults everywhere deal with these issues and many people are unaware of the fact. They think eating disorders is a “women thing”.

PDF article The Relationship between TV viewing and unhealthy eating implications

This article at the start bothered me a bit because right away is started with the blame game, which I cannot stand because that won’t accomplish much for this issue. But then the article went into various statistics and solutions that were different than the reading in the book. The fact that “98% of advertised foods are of low nutrients” bothers me incredibly but at the same time it is also not that surprising. The three solution that this article had were 1-messages to show children how important heathy foods are, 2- parent child communication and media education, and 3- reductions in overall exposure. These are rather good solutions that need to be easily broken apart so that adults can not only gain this knowledge but pass it on to the youth. If the parents struggle themselves then there needs to be options for children to learn about healthy eating on their own. No part of this issue is easy to overcome but it can be overcome one step at a time with balance, interaction, and doing more than just figuring out who should take all the blame.

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November 9th

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The relationship between television viewing and unhealthy eating: Implications for children and media interventions.

It’s so sad to know how much TV advertisments can influence what we eat especially for children.  “Humans possess an innate preference for sweet, high-fat and salty foods, and a reluctance to try unfamiliar foods, however, early experiences are critical in shaping individual food preferences”(pg 2). I do not believe TV advertisments should take the full blame for the increase in child obesity because children do not have full control of what they eat. Parents can help influence healthy foods from the beginning because they can literally control what their children eat. What if children never tasted junk food? Would they still crave it?

When children start to develop their own food preferences they do so mostly from past food experiences. In additon, TV advertisments that encourage junk food also help influence unhealthy decisions. When children are sitting at home watching fast food advertisments on TV they may crave what they are watching because the advertisments do a pretty good job in selling their products. For example, the study in this article shared how children had higher ratings for certain foods after watching an advertisment about it compared to those who didn’t watch an advertisment. This study only proves how important media literacy is for children especially because of the impact advertisments have on children’s health.

What’s a good solution for this problem?

Media literacy can be extremly helpful for children to help them understand  advertisments about unhealthy foods. However, I agree most with the solution of parent-child communication.  From personal experience, my parents would sometimes critize TV adverisments by pointing out the facts about them. In fact, when I watchTV advertisments today I am very skeptical because my parents influenced me to not believe everything we see on TV. Moreover, like the article mentioned this type of communication could have some negative or positive impacts on children. What solution would be best?

Nov. 8 Yosso-Cultural Capital

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First of all, I find it sad that this idea of valuing cultural capital needs to be turned into a formal theory and study in order to be recognized. It seems like such basic idea that all cultures have value. As I read I began to understand what Critical Race Theory is and how it came about. I’ve heard the term bantered about in other readings and our discussions without fully understanding what it is.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the code words “cultural difference”. I have also often heard what the author calls ‘deficit’ thinking, about children come without proper foundational cultural skills, and that parents do not care about education, and then these ideas are used to justify lack of success. Even well meaning teachers can fall into this line of thinking. As I read, I thought of various cultural capital, and I was glad when the article finally got to the point of saying what is considered to be the actual categories of capital. I was not surprised to see familial, linguistic, and social capital in the list. Aspirational, navigational, and resistant capital were new ideas to me. The idea of aspirations beyond what someone has the means to attain really struck me. How important it is to make those aspirations more attainable, and to assist students to capitalize on the navigational skills they have, or have observed in their families. In my curriculum class we discussed that students need to know how to ask for help and find it when they need. To consider that students of color have experience to draw on would be helpful. I think I will be more sensitive to all of this in the future. It takes effort to learn the cultural strengths of the students and community and find ways to incorporate them into the classroom learning.

Most of my students have many of their cousins either living with them, or attending our school. Many different relatives take turns picking up kids from school. Grandparents are often living in the same home. Because of this connection, I find that my students are very caring to one another, and often know how to care for younger siblings or cousins. Many of my students can already speak 3 languages in first grade: English, Spanish, Mixteco. Their parents value teachers and view us as professionals who know what is best for their children and rarely question our teaching or decisions. Helping students to capitalize on these strengths is important. They are true fighters and most of them exhibit a great desire to learn. Their parents come to conferences, school evening activities, and do this even though they are not understanding everything. To me, this is another strength of the community.

Beyond the reading, I learned a lot from reading Angie’s post which again brought these issues to life.