Media's Role in Shaping How Children Think About Themselves, Their Future Focus of Forum

Every day, children spend more than seven hours with some kind of media. If one counts using two forms of media at once, the total amount of time becomes nearly 11 hours of watching, listening or generating content. Media can be a powerful influence on young people's lives—both positive and negative.

The RAND Corporation will explore this issue at its next public policy forum, "The Air They Breathe: How Media May Shape Boys' and Girls' Beliefs About Sex and Gender, Their Sexual Behavior, and Their Futures."

How might current media images of girls influence how they see themselves and their potential? Do the portrayals of sex that saturate popular music, television, and film influence behavior? Experts will discuss when and how media use might put well-being and future opportunities at risk, and how it might be harnessed by parents, content creators, and others to help young people build happier, healthier futures.

• Rebecca Collins is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation and director of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention program within RAND Health.
• Madeline Di Nonno is the executive director for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a project of Community Partners, a nonprofit charity.

6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 29, 2010
Registration and a light reception will begin at 6 p.m.

RAND Corporation
1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90407
The event is free but space is limited, so we ask media planning to attend to let us know in advance, via e-mail.