The influence of mass media on the culture and health-related behaviors of youth has prompted health education and health promotion practitioners and researchers to turn toward media literacy approaches. In this article, development, implementation, and evaluation of a media literacy curriculum for tobacco control for high school students are discussed. Various theories from the field of public health are used to frame practice and research issues. A quasi-experimental research design was used to assess changes in tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among students exposed to the curriculum. This type of evaluation approach has become de rigueur for assessing school-based curricula in both educational and public health fields.
Aufderheide, P. (1997). Media literacy: From a report of the national leadership conferenceon media literacy. In R. Kubey (Ed.), Media literacy in the information age (pp. 79-86). New York: Transaction Publishing.
2.
Austin, E. W., & Johnson, K. K. (1997). Effects of general and alcohol specific media literacy training in children: Decision making about alcohol. Journal of Health Communication, 2, 17-42.
3.
Basil, M. D. (1997). The danger of cigarette “special placements” in film and television. Health Communication, 9, 190-198.
4.
Bazalgette, C. (1992). Key aspects of media education. In M. Alvarado & O. Boyd-Barrat (Eds.), Media education: An introduction (pp. 199-219). London: British Film Institute.
5.
Behson, J. (2002). Media literacy for high-risk children and youth. Telemedium: The Journal of Media Literacy, 48(2), 38-40.
6.
Beltrammini, R., & Bridge, P. (2001). Relationship between tobacco advertising and youthsmoking: Assessing the effectiveness of a school-based, anti-smoking intervention program. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 35(2), 263-277.
7.
Berkowitz, A. D. (2001). The social norms approach: Theory, research, and annotated bibliography. Newton, MA: Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention.
8.
Brown, J. (1991). Television critical viewing skills education: Major media literacy projects in the United States and selected countries. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
9.
Carr, C. (2000). El Monte Union High School District: 1999-2000 California healthy kids survey. El Monte Union High School District TUPE Grant School Report. El Monte, CA: El Monte Union High School District.
10.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2000). Centers for Disease Control guidelines for school health programs to prevent tobacco use and addiction. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 43(2), 1-18.
11.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2001). Tobacco use—United States: 1900-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 48(43), 986-993.
12.
Choi, W. S., Ahluwalia, J. S., Harris, K. J., & Okuyemi, K. (2002). Influence of tobacco marketing and exposure to smokers on adolescent susceptibility to smoking. American Journal of Prevention Medicine, 22(4), 228-233.
13.
Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (5th ed.). New York: HarperCollins.
14.
DiStefan, J. M., Gilpin, E., Sargent, J. D., & Pierce, J. P. (1999). Do movie stars encourage adolescents to start smoking? Evidence from California. Preventive Medicine, 28, 1-11.
15.
Donaldson, S. I., Graham, J. W., & Hansen, W. B. (1994). Testing the generalizability of intervening mechanism theories: Understanding the effects of adolescent drug use prevention interventions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 17(2), 195-216.
16.
El Monte Union High School District’s survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2003, from http://www.emuhsd.k12.ca.us/
17.
Evans, N., Farkas, A., Gilpin, E., Berry, C., & Pierce, J. P. (1995). Influence of tobacco advertising on adolescent susceptibility to smoking. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 87, 1538-1545.
18.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.
19.
Glider, P., Midyett, S. J., Mills-Novoa, B., Johannessen, K., & Collins, C. (2001). Changing the collegiate rite of passage: A campus-wide social marketing media campaign to reduce binge drinking. Journal of Drug Education, 31, 207-220.
20.
Glynn, T. J. (1984). Adolescent drug use and the family environment: A review. Journal of Drug Issues, 14, 271-295.
21.
Grube, J. W. (1995). Television alcohol portrayals, alcohol advertising and alcohol expectancies among children and adolescents. In S. E. Martin (Ed.), Effects of the mass media on the use and abuse of alcohol (NIAAA Research Monograph No. 28, NIH Pub. No. 95-3743, pp. 105-121). Rockville, MA: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
22.
Haines, M., & Spear, S. F. (1996). Changing the perception of the norm: A strategy to decrease binge drinking among college students. Journal of American College Health, 45, 134-140.
23.
Hobbs, R. (1997). Literacy for the information age. In J. Flood, S. B. Health, & D. E. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through communicative and visual arts (pp. 7-14). New York: International Reading Association/Macmillan Library Reference.
24.
Hobbs, R., & Frost, R. (2003). Measuring the acquisition of media literacy skills. Reading Research Quarterly. Retrieved from http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/departments/media/curriculum/COW/hobbs-and-frost%20.pdf
25.
Irving, L., DuPen, J., & Berel, S. (1998). A media literacy program for high school females. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 6, 119-131.
26.
Media literacy drug prevention teacher survey report. (2002). New York Times Newspaper in Education Program with sponsorship from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/NIE/medialiteracy/intro.pdf
27.
Perkins, H. W., Meilman, P. W., Leichliter, J. S., Cashin, J. R., & Presley, C. A. (1999). Misperceptions of the norms for the frequency of alcohol and other drug use on college campuses. Journal of American College Health, 47, 253-258.
28.
Piran, N., Levine, M., & Irving, L. (2000, November/December). GO GIRLS! Media literacy, activism, and advocacy project. Healthy Weight Journal, 14(6), 89-90.
29.
Quin, R., & McMahon, B. (1995). Evaluating standards in media education. Canadian Journal of Educational Communications, 22(1), 15-25.
30.
Sargent, J. D., Tickle, J. J., Beach, M. L., Dalton, M. A., Ahrens, M. B., & Heatherton, T. F. (2001). Brand appearance in contemporary cinema films and contribution to global marketing of cigarettes. The Lancet, 357, 29-32.
31.
Schooler, C., Feighery, E., & Flora, J. A. (1996). Seventh graders’self-reported exposure to cigarette marketing and its relationship to their smoking behavior. American Journal of Public Health, 86(9), 1216-1221.
32.
Stockwell, T. F., & Glantz, S. A. (1997). Tobaccouse is increasingin popularfilms. Tobacco Control, 6, 282-284.
33.
Tobler, N. S. (1997). Meta-analysis of adolescent drug prevention programs: Results of the 1993 meta-analysis. NIDA Research Monographs, 170, 5-68. Retrieved from http://www.nida.nih.gov/pdf/monographs/monograph170/000_TOC.pdf
34.
Wade, T. D., Davidson, S., & O’Dea, J. A. (2003). Preliminary controlled evaluation of a school-based media literacy program and self-esteem program for reducing eating disorder risk factors. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 33(4), 371-383.
35.
Wechsler, H., Nelson, T. F., Lee, J. E., Seibring, M., Lewis, C., & Keeling, R. P. (2003). Perception and reality: A national evaluation of social norms marketing interventions to reduce college students’ heavy alcohol use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 64, 484-494.
36.
Werch, C. E., Pappas, D. M., Carlson, J. M., DiClemente, C. C., Chally, P. S., & Sinder, J. A. (2000). Results of a social norm intervention to prevent binge drinking among first-year residential college students. Journal of American College Health, 45, 85-92.
37.
Whyte, W. F. (1991). Participatory action research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
