Exercise 1

The Internet offers access to a wide range of information and advice to help one learn norms and understand group interaction. For this exercise, you will be examining one method of socialization via the Internet: the advice page. Log onto Yahoo’s category listing for Prom advice (http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Cultures_and_Groups/Teenagers/Prom/). Choose two of the sites listed and use them to complete the following exercise:

1. Using just what you can learn through these two sites, write a short description of the norms and rituals of Proms.



2. Are the norms that apply to men and to women discussed in equal detail?



3. Based on what you see on these sites, do you find norms to be better defined for men or for women?

Exercise 2

Go to http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_childgen.shtml. Click on the “Activities and Quizzes” button and then on the quiz entitled “What Do Kids Learn from the Media?” Take the quiz and then answer the following questions:

1. Do children spend more time in school or watching television?



2. How many televisions does the average American household contain?



3. Before turning eighteen, how many acts of violence on television has the average American teenager viewed?



4. On a daily basis, which has the higher rate of transaction: video games rented or books checked out from public libraries?



5. How many hours per week does the average American child spend one-on-one with his or her father?