Youth Pros

"Just as you might add to your students' knowledge of a piece of literature by providing historical context and profiling the author, "The Merchants of Cool," which first aired February 27, 2001, provides vital background information about key media "storytellers." Because it exposes motives and techniques, the film is an invaluable tool for teaching media literacy. And because it is about their world, "The Merchants of Cool" is sure to hold students' attention and provide you with an excellent opportunity to engage them in discussions of culture, history, business, economics, ethics, mathematics, health, performing arts, gender stereotypes, ethnography, literature, social studies, and civics."

FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming the experience of adolescence. At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. Fear of online predators has led teachers and parents to focus primarily on keeping kids safe online. But many young people think these fears are misplaced. Online media has also intensified the social dimensions of adolescence as teens create and play with identities on sites like MySpace and Facebook and encounter intense peer pressure in a variety of virtual worlds. Parents are confused about how to respond to the increasingly private worlds inhabited by their children, lacking an understanding of both the creative potential and the genuine risks of this new dimension of our cultural environment.

Resources for parents and teenagers to help improve mutual understanding and communication.

We live in in an instant-delivery culture. Movies are streamed to your computer, news arrives at your newsfeed, invitations are sent through Facebook, and emails come straight to your phone. People no longer need to go to physical locations in order to get what they need but rather they increasingly expect to have those things delivered straight to them, no matter where he or she is.