| PARENT
ACTIVITIES & DISCUSSION POINTS |
1
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Find
out how your children feel about how they look.
- Ask them what their favorite part of their body is.
- Help them focus on the positive, teaching them to make
healthy food and exercise choices because it will make them
feel good, not look good.
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2
|
Examine
your own body image.
- Are you constantly making negative comments
about how you look or what you eat in front of your children?
- Do you like how you look?
- Do you make healthy food choices?
- Do you have a healthy fitness program, designed to make you
feel good rather than look good?
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3
|
Look
through your children’s favorite magazines with them.
- Study
the advertisements.
- Discuss how the models look and compare
them to real people.
- Talk about how these models are made to
look good; without make-up and computer retouching, they too
are imperfect.
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4
|
Watch
your children’s favorite shows with them.
- Discuss
the commercials you see.
- How are these advertisements trying
to make viewers feel?
- Why is a particular commercial shown
during a program?
- What need is the commercial trying to create
for the viewer?
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5
|
Remember
to focus on all of your children’s wonderful qualities
and gifts.
- Instead of always telling them they are pretty or handsome,
remind them that they are also smart, gifted, funny, etc.
- If your children see that you value them as whole people,
they may be less inclined to focus solely on how they look.
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6
|
Discuss
eating disorders with your children.
- What do they know about
these illnesses?
- Let them know your concerns.
- Find out if they
have friends who starve themselves or binge and purge.
- Discuss
ways they can help their friends.
- If you suspect your child
is suffering from an eating disorder, seek professional help.
Examine your own relationship with food.
- If you are suffering from an unhealthy relationship with
food, or an eating disorder, seek professional help or join
a support group, such as Overeaters Anonymous.
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7
|
When
watching television with your children, discuss gender roles
as presented on programs and commercials.
- For example, who
are ads for cleaning products geared towards?
- If ads show women
using these products, discuss why advertisers assume women do
the cleaning.
- If a man is using the product, look at the way
his helping with housework is portrayed.
- Analyze tool and hardware
store, or other male-focused commercials, and discuss the advertiser’s
motivation.
- Discuss the concept of gender roles and stereotyping
with your children, and find ways to help them break down these
stereotypes.
- How are roles defined in your household?
- Are the
females responsible for cooking and cleaning, while the males
take charge of the outdoor chores?
- Why are tasks broken up like
this?
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