Katelin Phelps

ARTE 302
Dr. E. Delacruz
1/20/10

The overall theme of this week’s articles, or at least the ones I read, was influence and the
role in plays in the lives of adolescents of all ages. The two articles I read Child Art After
Modernism: Visual Culture and New Narratives by Brent Wilson and Teenage Sexuality and
Media Practice: Factoring in the Influences of Family, Friends, and School by Jeanne Steele
cover the many influences of child art and the influences of the media on teenage sexuality,
respectively.

B. Wilson- Child Art After Modernism: Visual Culture and New Narratives
In this article Wilson discusses the many influences on childrens’ art and states that
children are not solely uninfluenced creative beings but are consistently being influenced. This
idea is one that goes against the largely held belief during modernism that children were unique,
uninfluenced creative beings and that their art reflected this. Throughout the article Wilson
discusses a number of instances to help support his argument. He discusses examples of children
being influenced by other children’s drawing and examples of children’s’ drawing reflecting
aspects they encountered in the world around them.
I really enjoyed this article. I had a hard time seeing the modernists’ views when I
thought back to my own experiences with making art as I child so this article spoke to me. Also
in the ART202 class I teach we use an article that discusses a number of characteristics that are
found in childrens’ artwork. (Teaching children to draw: A guide for teachers and parents). I
remember I always had a hard time, and still do sometimes, coming up with what I wanted to
draw or what I wanted to make. I often used things around me, things I had seen, and what other
children made to help influence my drawings and other artworks.

After reading this article I wonder how structured or how unstructured my art lessons should be
with children?

J. Steele- Teenage Sexuality and Media Practice: Factoring in the Influences of Family, Friends,
and School
In this article Steele explores and studies the effects of the media on teens’ views and
thoughts on sexuality. She does this through group discussions, surveys, journals, and
recordings. Overall, she was able to show that media does play a role in the influence of middle
school and high school teens but it can vary depending on age, sex, and race. The article and its
research clearly showed the strong role of media not only as an influence but also has a source
for information.
I was initially drawn to this article by its title. I really enjoyed reading the article and the
methods it used to explore the effects of media. What really stood out to me from this article
was what the students said about their experiences with discussing sex, or a lack of discussion of
sex, in the classroom and at home. Having gone to Catholic school for grade school and high
school are only sex education was anatomically based or focused on abstinence. Similarly to the
teens in the article I did not find this helpful.
This article spoke to me as both a future teacher and parent. I wonder what is the best way to
approach these hot/controversial topics both in the home and in the classroom?
How would I do it in a way that is both informational and would allow the teen to feel
comfortable talking about these topics?
Katelin Phelps
ARTE 302
Dr. E. Delacruz
1/20/10
Online Survey Summary

The online survey about teens and media that I found was called Sex and Tech: Results
from a Survey of Teens and Young Adults. Here is some basic information about the survey, its
participants, and its motivations. The survey was given online to a total of 1,280 respondents.
These respondents made up a total of 653 teens (ages 13-19) and 627 young adults (ages
20-26). It was given between September 25, 2008 and October 3, 2008 and was conducted by
TRU, a global leader in research on teens and young adults. The National Campaign to Prevent
Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com initiated the survey as an effort to better
understand the relationship and crossover between sex and cyberspace with respect to the
attitudes and behaviors of teens and young adults. The survey is made up of 25 questions, with
many that have multiple parts to them. These questions cover a variety of topics including age,
location, marital status, and behaviors and attitudes in relation to sex and the internet.
The online survey mentions that at present, that is at the time of the survey (2008), it is
estimated that about 90% of teens and young adults are online. With such a large percentage of
teens and young adults online it is important to study the role and relationship of the internet and
sex. The survey found a variety of results in relationship to sex and the internet. Some of the
results found that a significant number of teens take part in sending nude pictures or posting nude
pictures online and that this activity increases with age (20% of teens overall). Also, the survey
found that the teens and young adults surveyed were even more likely to take part in sending
sexually suggestive messages (39% of all teens). The survey also showed that although most
participants sent images or suggestive texts to a significant other there was many that sent them
to people they wanted to date and even some to people they only new online. The survey results
go on to show that many teens share these images with others and are aware of this behavior
when they send them.
Overall, I found this survey to be very interesting and enlightening. I know that sexting
and those types of behaviors have been in the news recently and are very controversial and this
what drew me to this survey in particular. However, I did not realize there were such a large
percentage of students who took part in these types of activities. I was even more surprised to
learn that a lot of them are aware that the sexual images or messages they sent were being shared
with more than the intended audience and even more surprising this didn’t prevent them from
doing it. The article included not only the results and the survey itself it also included other
information, which I really liked. It included small boxes of information on some of the pages
providing information on what you should know before posting sexual images or messages and 5
tips to help parents talk to their kids about sex and technology. I found both of these sections to
be helpful because they provided supplemental and helpful information to the reader.

www.thenationalcampaign.org/SEXTECH/.../SexTech_Summary.pdf