Girls and Boys on Television

Goals

Recognize that the media construct reality ;

Understand that the representations made by the media are not always accurate ;

Understand how their own gender perceptions are affected by the media ;

Consider how well media images of gender reflect their own opinions and experiences ;

Express opinions in writing ;

Express themselves creatively.

Brief description of the issue

A strong endorsement of gender stereotypes is associated with higher school dropout rates, for boys as well as for girls. These stereotypes are widely shared by TV shows, particularly those targeted at children. It is therefore important to put specific activities on this topic in place (like this one!) to break down gender stereotypes with children.

This lesson plan named Girls and Boys on Television has been created by MediaSmarts, “a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy. Our vision is that children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens.”

According to the website’s description, this lesson brings students to “discuss television programming aimed at children and how girls and boys are portrayed in it. Students illustrate what they dislike about portrayals of girls or boys and then create their own TV character who will counter the illustrated negative portrayals.”

Click on the link below to download the lesson plan.

Document

Girls and Boys on Television - Lesson Plan

File size: 81 KB (application/pdf)