When teaching about healthy dating relationships, it’s important to explore where we get our ideas about love! Why? Considering how the media dramatizes everything, often making it difficult to discern the realistic (healthy/positive) from the unrealistic (unhealthy/negative), the Love Project has students exploring a variety of media sources to analyze and deconstruct the message. Continue reading to learn more!

Set

• Ask students “Where do we get our ideas about love?” As they share, you may want to make a master list to view all of the sources.
• Ask students if these sources represent love realistically or unrealistically?  Discuss.
• Tell them they will be doing some sleuthing to find out!

Materials

• iPads or Laptops
• Projector & Screen
• Old Magazines (optional)

Directions

• Students will make a booklet using the provided template to answer the question: “WHERE DO WE GET OUR IDEAS ABOUT LOVE?”
• Based on the list shared previously, we often get our ideas about love from any or all of the following sources and influences:
  • Family
  • Friends & Peers
  • Social Media & Internet
  • Television & Movies & YouTube
  • Music (songs, lyrics, videos)
  • Advertising (ads, commercials, billboards)
  • Newspapers & Magazines (human interest stories, advice columns)
  • Literature (books, poems, fairy tales, short stories, magazine articles)
  • Historical Influences
• Students are to find ONE magazine ad that give a message or makes a statement about love. If using an actual paper magazine, students will need to scan or photograph the ad to be able to insert it into the template.
• Then students are to locate at least four other examples from the list above (excluding family & friends) that have a message about love. Students will need to provide name and picture examples and links if needed to videos or song lyrics, etc. for each.  For example, if choosing a song, they will need to provide the written lyrics or a picture of the artist and song title with a link to either the lyrics or the song performance.
• Additionally, students will need to analyze and deconstruct the message and explain the message about love that is being conveyed. Students will explain if they believe the message/example is positive or negative and why. Does the example convey a myth about love? If so, explain which one(s).

Attachments

• Love Project Directions & Rubric (please make a copy–go to file, click make a copy and it’s yours)
• Digital Love Booklet Template (please make a copy–go to file, click make a copy and it’s yours)

Photo by Pixabay