Assignment 1: Psychosocial Reflection and Critical Analysis of

Childhood and Adolescent Sexuality

In order to complete this assignment I recommend that you complete the Chapter 6 readings and
watch the entire lecture.

For Assignment 1 you will be writing TWO reflections on messages that you have received
about Childhood and Adolescent Sexuality. For your first prompt you will pick ONE source out
of the three options listed. Everyone one will complete the Media prompt. Use the attached
template to complete your assignment (delete the red example text).

First, choose 1 of the 3 prompt options.

1. Family or Adult Caregivers: This can include Parents, Grandparents, Primary Caregivers,
Siblings, Coaches, Teachers, Youth Group Leaders Etc.
OR
2. Peers: Friends, Peer Groups, Adolescent Significant Other etc.
OR
3. Culture: Sources related to geographic origins, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status,
ability (i.e. having a physical or mental disability), etc. It can be related to traditions and customs
both formal and informal.

Second, for prompt 1 you will then:

 Fill in the source of the message: Family, Peers, or Culture
 Describe the event, experience, or situation in YOUR OWN narrative (1 paragraph
minimum – 4 paragraph maximum).
 Write what message the event, experience, situation conveyed about Childhood and
Adolescent sexuality (1 paragraph minimum – 4 paragraph maximum).
 Provide a Critical Analysis of the message using a psychosocial framework (1 paragraph
minimum – 4 paragraph maximum).
Third, think of or search for a media source that relates to Childhood or
Adolescent Sexuality
This includes television, magazines, books, movies, and the internet (Twitter, Social Media,
Advertisements, New Articles, Message Boards etc).

Fourth, for prompt 2 you will then:

 Fill in what type of media source you are using: News Article, Twitter Post,
Advertisement, etc.
 Include a link or screen shot of the media source
 Write what message the media source conveys about Childhood and Adolescent sexuality
(1 paragraph minimum – 4 paragraph maximum).
 Provide a Critical Analysis of the message using a psychosocial framework (1 paragraph
minimum – 4 paragraph maximum).
Name: Fill in your name here

Prompt 1: Family, Peers, or Culture

Choose 1of the 3:
Family or Adult Caregivers: This can include Parents, Grandparents, Primary Caregivers,
Siblings, Couches, Teachers, Youth Group Leaders Etc.
OR
Peers: Friends, Peer Groups, Adolescent Significant Other etc.
OR
Culture: Sources related to geographic origins, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status,
ability (i.e. having a physical or mental disability), etc. It can be related to traditions and customs
both formal and informal.

Source:
E.g. Family, Peers, or Culture

Using YOUR OWN narrative describe an event, experience, or situation that conveyed a
message about Child and/or Adolescent Sexuality (1-4 paragraphs).
For example in our lecture I told the story of remembering when I saw a penis for the first time
as a child. This would be a Peer source.

What message does your narrative convey about Childhood and/or Adolescent sexuality (1-
4 paragraphs)?
E.g. in the narrative I gave in my lecture, when I was in preschool and thought that a penis was
an “outie vagina”. How did this relate to my knowledge of anatomy? Was it “normal” for the
other preschooler to do this or was it inappropriate?

Critical Analysis of the message using a psychological and social framework (1-4
paragraphs):
How might the experience shape my thoughts of male anatomy as a young girl? Were there any
social implications of the boy being the one to show his genitalia? What if we had been in our
late teen? Would the situation had been normal? When using critical thought tie your critique
directly into a PSYCHOLOGICAL impact the narrative may have on your thoughts of Child and
Adolescent sexuality as well as the SOCIAL implications of the narrative.

Prompt 2: Media
This includes television, magazines, books, movies, and the internet (Twitter, Advertisements,
Message Boards, etc).

Type of Media:
News Article, Blog Post, Twitter? In our Lecture I linked a scene from the show “Big Mouth”

Source of Media:
Provide a link or copy/paste a screen shot of the media.

What message does the media convey about Childhood and Adolescent sexuality (1-4
paragraphs)?
In the Big Mouth video the overall theme was young girls and women being comfortable in their
own skin. Here you would say as much and describe evidence from the media source that this
was the message being conveyed.

Critical Analysis of the message using a psychological and social framework (1-4
paragraphs):
Was this traumatizing for the girls? Why were older women so comfortable in their own skin? Is
there a social/cultural experience? If it had been a male only bathhouse do you think young boys
would have been just as uncomfortable as the girls were? When using critical thought tie your
critique directly into a PSYCHOLOGICAL influence the media may have on Child and
Adolescent sexuality as well as a SOCIAL influence.