Bullying in the Media

Objectives

� Give examples of how the media portrayes humor in bullying and desensitizes viewers to the horrors   of real acts of bullying.
� Identify factors in addition to the media that contributes to the problem of bullying in society.
� Apply the TAP questions and key concepts to  the media in order to get the whole picture.The TAP questions and Key concepts are attached below, we will discuss these after watching the media.       

Introducing the Lesson

Teachers may want to go over what bullying is and how to handle being bullied prior to teaching this lesson . Show the video of Pepsi Max and discuss with the class the TAP questions and key concepts of the video.  Then have the class discuss why they were laughing at the video.  Why is it that we find humor in bullying as a society?

The class will view the clip below of Jimmy Dean and answer the following questions?  

� What type of media did you view?

� How does the media make you feel and is it pleasing to the eye?

� Has the information you received from the media angered you? Made you feel really good?

� Do you feel represented in the media (i.e., race, age, talents, strengths, weaknesses, background, ethnicity)?

� Who is visible and who is invisible within the media?

� Are there certain issues or groups of people represented more often than others in the media?

 � What type of message is in the media?

� What is the message saying?

� Who is the targeted audience?

� Who produced the media and for what purpose?

� Why do you think the crab was bullying the student?

� Who profits from this commercial?

Next you will view the web sites below where you will find SpongeBob and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. You will need to find the bullying which is going on and what type of message is being represented, who is the intended audience. Who do you think produced or supported the videos.

After you have a understanding of what media literacy is from viewing the prior videos  and deconstructing them, your job is to make a news article, a video commercial, or a powerpoint presentation without bullying and to have a positive message in it. You will have a week to do this assignment.  An example of a commercial is attached.