In the United States dance competition culture and commercial dance are both highly visible. Although connections between the two distinct dance worlds are implicitly present, they remain largely unexamined. To begin a conversation about how commercial dance and dance competition culture relate and their influence on dance education, this article…

As one key element of establishing a superhero persona, many superhero myths are based on the principle of experiencing parental loss at an early age. This study examined the impact of group bibliotherapy using superhero stories with children and adolescents who have experienced parental absence. The 187 participants who resided in foster care…

An authority on the history of American children and families, Steven Mintz is a professor of history at Columbia University, where he also directs the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Center. Previously, he was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Moores Professor of…

The messages students receive through popular media such as movies, television, the internet, and music videos have a powerful influence and can shape their thinking. A national survey of media use by 8- to 18-year-olds found the average adolescent spends over seven and a half hours daily with entertainment media (KFF 2010). Rather than viewing…

Video games have become a powerful force in the culture. Depictions of women in video games are scarce and highly stereotypical. Women are usually minor characters, are seen as victims rather than heroines, and are depicted in highly sexualized ways. Whereas early games had only a few representations of people of color, people of color were often…

Presents approaches to the study of the role of popular culture in society. (DD)

This article looks at the controversy over video games; arguments for and against them are offered, along with a list of regulations in force around the country and nine important factors agencies should consider before leasing the machines. (JM)

Mass media, including television and advertising, has created a popular culture in which adolescents and children are taught the need to gain material gratification and group membership through a superficial attempt at fitting themselves into a preconceived mold. Those who fall short of the effort develop feelings of inferiority and may become…

Examined and compared self-reported reasons for pop music preferences of 397 students in grades five, seven, nine, eleven, and college. Results revealed that characteristics such as melody, mood, rhythm, and lyrics were the most important reasons for selection. Differences in response by age and background characteristics were noted. (Author/SJL)

This document compiles and classifies research findings on the influences of media violence, particularly its effects on children's and young people's aggression or violent behavior; the review draws on many studies with different theories and methods. The research findings are presented in the following areas: (1) imitation; (2) aggression…

The environment of commercial video game parlors and determinants of their use were studied through interviews with three parlor managers and informal observation. Environment varies considerably across parlors, and parlor traffic is found to be a function of temporal and ecological variables. (SLD)

This empirical review of the relationship between Swedish youth and music begins with a brief overview of the place of music as a communications medium in Swedish society in general, and among Swedish youth in particular. An analysis of the findings of a large-scale, longitudinal study of media use by Swedish adolescents, the Media Panel study, is…

The extensive media use common today among children and adolescents requires no special literacy skills. Television, video, film, and popular music can also be viewed or listened to without acquiring new skills. Without purposefully teaching the skills to decode the meanings behind the media, however, we leave students, as well as ourselves, in…

This pamphlet presents the results of a series of focus groups comprised of Native American children and adolescents regarding their perceptions of race and class in the media. The results indicated that although some youth were concerned most about the absence of their group in the media, others were primarily concerned about stereotyped…

Although America is engaged in a national dialogue about race, children's voices have yet to be heard on the matter. This study used a series of focus groups and a national poll of 10- to 17-year-olds to examine their views about race and the role of the media in shaping understanding. Participating in the polls were 1,200 children, 300 in each…