How advertising influences boys

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Transcription:

It's important for parents to monitor the magazines that boys read. Most parents are shocked to learn that the magazines with the most unhealthy ads are the ones that target boys and men. Sports Illustrated, for example, the magazine most read by teenage boys, has more alcohol and tobacco advertisements than any other magazine. And these magazines and ads, whether they're promoting junk food or alcohol or tobacco, typically link these products with being manly. So basically, they prey on boys' insecurities about being manly enough and the message is, drink this alcohol or use this tobacco and you're going to be more of a man. Unsurprisingly, boys in this country drink a lot more alcohol and use a lot more tobacco than girls do, and now because people are smoking less, tobacco advertisers are pushing smokeless tobacco, which is used almost exclusively by boys and men. So it's important that parents monitor the magazines boys read. It's also important to talk with them about the social pressure they experience to drink alcohol or use tobacco to become more manly.

Video Categories: ALL PARENTS, Family Life, Gender Differences, TEEN, Health and Development, Substance Use, Substance Abuse Prevention

Will Courtenay, PhD Psychotherapist, shares advice for parents on how advertising can influence their son and explains how parents can to help monitor its influence

Transcript

Expert Bio

Will Courtenay, PhD

Psychotherapist

Dr. Will Courtenay, “The Men’s Doc,” is an internationally recognized expert in helping boys, men and fathers, and a psychotherapist, consultant, distinguished author, researcher, keynote speaker, radio host, and consultant to and speaker at schools and universities. His new book is titled Dying To Be Men. The American Psychological Association calls him, “a leading psychologist in the field of masculinity” and Who’s Who in America calls him a “foremost achiever in his field.” As one of the world’s leading innovators in the health of boys and men, he has a documented history of success in shaping and promoting this new field, as well as new perspectives on fatherhood, boyhood, and masculinity. Dr. Courtenay received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and has served on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School. He is the Founding Editor of the International Journal of Men's Health. Dr. Courtenay is a powerful, effective voice about boys and men, heard nationally on radio and television – including CNN, Good Morning America, World News, Fox News, ABC News, NBC News – and seen in print – including NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, NPR, Newsweek, USA Today, and Chicago Tribune. Dr. Courtenay is a contributor to Esquire Magazine.