Introduction

Hi, my name is Rachel and I'm so excited to spend the next six weeks at UCLA with Summer Discovery. This program is an opportunity for high school students to learn, meet new people from around the world, have fun, and participate in a college-like experience. I arrived yesterday and am anxious to see what's in store. I chose to take an introduction to psychology course and a news and media course. One aspect of news and media that really sparks my interest is how it affects teenagers, impacts our understanding of the world around us, and influences our perspective; especially being here with hundreds of these teens, it will be interesting to know how it will alter the experiences we are all going to have. I have been a part of my school's newspaper for the past couple of years and I have been able to see how the news and media changes our opinions on about most everything. There are many studies which show both the positive and negative effects of news and media. Some including, school, obesity, advertising and commercials, stereotypes, violence, and sexuality. I hope that over the next few weeks, I will be able to explain to you all how these topics are portrayed through the news and media and how they are related to teenager's lives.