Thoughts and Perspectives – Media Educational Foundation: Impact of Mass Media

As part of my goal to become better educated on the issues impacting pre-adolescent and adolescent girls, some time ago I came across the work of the Media Educational Foundation (MEF) http://www.mediaed.org/wp/about-mef.  Per their website, their mission is:

“Mission: The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media.”

To accomplish this mission, MEF makes available their films at really reasonable prices to universities, high schools, individual educators, etc. and, in many cases, MEF provides study guides, transcripts, etc. at no cost.   In fact, in general you can preview the complete films online (the words “for preview only” show in the background).

With this objective, MEF has produced educational films that address such diverse topics as gender, health, politics, etc.  One of these films is an exclusive with Mary Pipher (author of Reviving Ophelia, Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls) where she “discusses the challenges facing today’s teenagers, especially girls, as well as the role of media and popular culture in shaping their identities.” In addition, MEF has other films that may be of interest to some parents (e.g. eating disorders,  body image issues, masculinity today, etc.).   As an example of their films, I have attached a link to an intro to Reviving Ophelia’s MEF film that I found on You Tube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrRtJY28ps8&feature=related.

I will admit that sometimes these films are heart wrenching, but for me, they in part address how things are rather than how I wish they were.  For this reason, I sometimes push myself to get past some of my preconceived ideas/expectations so that I can see things from another perspective.

You may want to explore their website to see if any of the films are of any interest to you.   As always, I hope this is of use.