Media Smarts is a national program for girls ages 9 to 11 that investigates the use of slogans, logos, merchandising, and target marketing in media.

From magazines to marketing campaigns to music videos, girls today are surrounded by mass media images of girls and women. According to a 1999 survey, the typical American girl uses media of some kind for over 5 hours a day.

Girls Inc.’s Media Smarts program provides a unique opportunity to help girls develop the skills to wade through the media messages that bombard them. The Media Smarts program is facilitated entirely by trained Youth Leaders.

The Media Smarts program teaches girls to:

• Consider the realness of reality TV
• Find ways to overcome bias in the news
• Practice creating their own strong, smart and bold characters
• Understand TV show treatment and media campaigns
• Tackle issues of concern, such as beauty, diversity, and stereotypes in media

Outreach Locations 2010*

• Salinas
• Soledad
• Greenfield
• Gonzales
• Seaside

*Subject to change

Interested in bringing Media Smarts to your community? Please contact us at (831) 772-0882.