Topic 1: Be media Smart

Teenagers put into practice many of the values and habits they learn at home and begin to make their own decisions when they interact with other young people. Thus, they must be allowed to interact with their friends and have a social life in general.

This is how they learn to be independent of their parents to a great extent.

Emotional stability is one of the most important healthy habits of teens.

Body changes during the adolescence can lead to all sorts of insecurities and often manifest as stress, anxiety and  mood swings.

It can also lead to various forms of addiction.

Advertisements, TV shows, the internet and social media can influence your food and drink choices and how you choose to spend your time. Many advertisements try to convince us to consume high-fat foods and sugary drinks. We need to be aware of some of the tricks that ads use to influence us:

• An add may show a group of teenagers consuming food or drink or using a product, making you think that all teenagers are doing or should be doing the same thing. The add may even use phrases like “all teens need”.
• Advertisers sometimes show famous people using or recommending a product because they think you’ll want to buy the products your favorite celebrities use.
• Advertisements often use cartoon characters to make a food, drink or activity exciting and attractive to young people.​