1.
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Healthy Media for Youth
Act
.
(b)The table of
contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Grants to promote media literacy and youth empowerment
programs.
Sec. 4. Research on the role and impact of girls and women in
the media on the development of youth.
Sec. 5. National Task Force on Girls and Women in the
Media.
Sec. 6. Limitation.
Sec. 7. Definitions.
Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)According to the
2010 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation entitled Generation M² Media
in Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds
, most 8- to 18-year-olds spend about 10
hours a day using recreational media.
(2)Sixty percent of
teenage girls compare their bodies to fashion models and almost 90 percent of
girls say the media places a lot of pressure on teenage girls to be thin,
according to the 2010 Girl Scout Research Institute report entitled
Beauty Redefined
.
(3)Only 34 percent of
girls report being very satisfied with their bodies, according to the 2006
study by the Girl Scout Research Institute entitled The New Normal? What
Girls Say About Healthy Living
. Body dissatisfaction can lead to
unhealthy eating and dieting habits. Fifty-five percent of girls admit that
they diet to lose weight, 37 percent know someone who has been diagnosed with
an eating disorder, and 31 percent admit to starving themselves or refusing to
eat as a strategy to lose weight.
(4)Fifty-four percent
of young girls in grades 3 through 5 worry about their appearance, and 37
percent of such girls worry specifically about their weight, according to the
2006 Girls Inc. report entitled The Supergirl Dilemma: Girls Grapple
with the Mounting Pressure of Expectations
.
(5)A
2007 report of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the
Sexualization of Girls reported that 3 of the most common mental health
problems among girls, eating disorders, depression or depressed mood, and low
self-esteem, are linked to sexualization of girls and women in media.
(6)Sexualized
messages and images of girls and women can also negatively impact boys.
According to the 2007 report of the American Psychological Association’s Task
Force on the Sexualization of Girls, frequent exposure to sexualized media
images of girls and women can create unrealistic and unhealthy expectations of
girls' and women's physical appearance for boys, and may impair their ability
to develop healthy relationships with girls and women.
(7)Girls and women of
color are disproportionately absent from mainstream media. The Girl Scout
Research Institute report, Beauty Redefined
, states that only 32
percent of African-American girls think the fashion industry does a good job of
representing people of all races and ethnicities.
(8)Women and girls
continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles in children's media. The
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media reports that less than 1 in 3
speaking characters in children’s movies are female, and that the majority of
female characters in children’s movies are praised for their appearance or
physical beauty rather than their personality, intelligence, or other
talents.
(9)Congress supports
efforts to ensure that youth improve their media literacy skills, and to
promote positive messages about girls and women that highlight healthy and
diverse body images, positive and active female role models, and equal and
healthy relationships between female and male characters.
3.Grants to promote
media literacy and youth empowerment programs
(a)
(1)The Secretary shall award grants to nonprofit
organizations to provide for the establishment, operation, coordination, and
evaluation of programs to increase the media literacy of girls and boys,
including by—
(A)educating youth on
how to apply critical thinking skills when consuming media images and
messages;
(B)encouraging youth
to consume healthy, balanced, and positive media depictions of girls and women;
and
(C)raising awareness
about the perpetuation and damaging effects of unhealthy images of girls and
women, gender stereotypes, and the sexualization of girls and women.
(2)Programs
funded under this subsection may include—
(A)programs designed
to encourage youth to develop analytical skills that promote autonomy and
critical understanding of how girls and women are depicted in the media;
(B)age-appropriate
education about how the sexualization of girls and women, stereotypical gender
roles, and unhealthy images of girls and women can affect the body image of
youth, the choice of role models by youth, and relationships of youth among
their peers;
(C)programs designed
to provide youth the skills to take responsibility for their use of
media;
(D)education on
career opportunities within the media;
(E)programs designed
to teach youth how to create and use media to contribute to social change,
especially in their communities;
(F)education for
parents, educators, and other adults on how depictions of girls and women in
the media impact youth; or
(G)support for public
or private partnerships that encourage businesses, advertisers, the
entertainment industry, and other media content providers to promote media
content that—
(i)encourages healthy
body images;
(ii)depicts positive
and active female role models; and
(iii)portrays equal
and healthy relationships between female and male characters.
(3)The
Secretary shall require each grant recipient under this subsection to submit to
the Secretary a report for each grant period that—
(A)describes how
grant funds were used; and
(B)evaluates the
effectiveness of the program funded through the grant.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall
award grants to nonprofit organizations to provide for the establishment,
operation, coordination, and evaluation of programs to support the empowerment
of girls or boys in a variety of ways, including by encouraging youth
empowerment through extracurricular activities and programs that—
(A)develop
self-esteem, skills, and talents; and
(B)celebrate
characteristics unrelated to physical appearance, such as leadership and
self-esteem.
(2)Programs
funded under this subsection may include programs designed to—
(A)build confidence,
self-efficacy, and leadership skills of youth in single gender
environments;
(B)develop values and
skills of youth such as respect, critical thinking, problem solving, and
collaborative team work; or
(C)facilitate
opportunities for youth to interact with adult role models, such as mentors and
volunteers, in their communities.
(3)The Secretary shall require each grant
recipient under this subsection to submit to the Secretary a report for each
grant period that—
(A)describes how
grant funds were used; and
(B)evaluates the
effectiveness of the program funded through the grant.
(c)The Secretary may make a grant to a nonprofit organization
under subsection (a) or (b) only if the organization agrees to make available
non-Federal contributions toward the costs of the program for which such
organization revieves a grant in an amount that is not less than $1 for every
$5 of Federal funds awarded under this section. Such contribution may be in
cash or in-kind, fairly evaluated, including equipment, training, curricula, or
a preexisting evaluation framework.
(d)No grant awarded under this section shall be greater than
$1,000,000 or less than $100,000.
(e)In
awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to
nonprofit organizations or projects that are—
(1)focused on
underserved communities and groups, including racial and ethnic minorities,
representatives from different socioeconomic groups, and youth at risk for
eating disorders;
(2)gender-specific;
(3)culturally
competent;
(4)developed in
collaboration with subject matter experts, community leaders, or youth serving
organizations; and
(5)have demonstrated
expertise in providing training and evaluation of quality media literacy
activities or youth empowerment programs.
(f)A grant may be made under subsection (a) or (b) only
if the applicant involved agrees to the following:
(1)Not more than 20
percent of the grant funds will be used for administration, accounting,
reporting, and program oversight functions.
(2)The grant will be
used to supplement and not supplant funds from other sources for increasing the
media literacy of, and empowering, youth.
(3)The applicant will
abide by any limitations deemed appropriate by the Secretary on any charges to
individuals receiving services pursuant to the grant. As deemed appropriate by
the Secretary, such limitations on charges may vary based on the financial
circumstances of the individual receiving services.
(g)Grant period;
application for assistance during subsequent grant years
(1)A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period
of 3 years.
(2)Application for
assistance during subsequent grant yearsAfter the first fiscal
year for which an entity receives a grant, the entity shall apply to receive
grant funds for a subsequent fiscal year during the grant period by submitting
an application to the Secretary at the beginning of each such fiscal year. An
application submitted under this paragraph shall include such information as
the Secretary may require, including, at a minimum, a description of the
progress of the entity.
(h)Not
later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate
committees of the Congress a report on the grants awarded under subsections (a)
and (b), including—
(1)a
description of how the grant funds were used; and
(2)an evaluation of
the effectiveness of such grants.
4.Research on the
role and impact of girls and women in the media on the development of
youth
(a)The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and in coordination with the Director of the
National Institutes of Health and the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, shall review,
synthesize, conduct, or support research on the role and impact depictions of
girls and women in the media have on youth in the following areas:
(1)The psychological,
physical, sexual, and interpersonal development of youth in the following
areas:
(A)Cognitive areas
such as mental health, self-esteem, learning abilities, and problem solving
skills.
(B)Physical areas
such as diet, nutrition, exercise, body image, substance abuse, and sleeping
and eating routines.
(C)Social behavioral
areas such as relationships with peers, interactions with parents and family
members, aggression, high-risk behaviors, sexual behavior and development, and
positive social behaviors.
(D)Academic
performance.
(E)The perceptions
and attitudes of youth about the abilities, equity, appearances, and leadership
potential of girls and boys.
(2)How the effects of
depictions in the media of girls and women vary from such depictions of boys
and men, and by race, ethnicity, and age group.
(3)How the
sexualization and objectification of girls and women in media affects the
healthy development of girls and boys.
(4)How food marketing
and obesity campaigns affect the body image, nutrition, and exercise of girls
and of boys, especially among youth with eating-disorders.
(5)Additional areas
as designated by the Secretary.
(b)The Secretary shall ensure that research activities
under this section do not duplicate other Federal research activities.
(c)Not later than 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare
and submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report that—
(1)synthesizes the
results of—
(A)research under
this section; and
(B)other related
research by the private or public sector, including the Federal
Government;
(2)disaggregates such
results by gender, race, age, and socioeconomic background;
(3)includes a compendium of key existing
research on the role and impact of depictions of girls and women in the
media;
(4)outlines gaps in research on the role and
impact of depictions of girl and women in the media and identifies areas where
future research is needed; and
(5)identifies how
factors such as the format of media, length of exposure to media, age of youth,
and nature of parental involvement impact such results.
5.National Task
Force on Girls and Women in the Media
(a)The
Federal Communications Commission shall convene a task force, to be known as
the National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media, to develop voluntary
steps and goals for promoting healthy and positive depictions of girls and
women in the media for the benefit of all youth.
(b)The
Task Force shall include representatives of the media industry, nonprofit and
youth-serving organizations, academia and research entities, psychologists and
other child health professionals, Federal agencies, and any other public or
private entity designated by the Federal Communications Commission.
(c)The
Task Force shall identify—
(1)trends with
respect to how the media regulated by the Federal Communications Commission
portrays girls and women;
(2)how such trends
impact the healthy growth and development of youth; and
(3)voluntary measures
and goals that the public and private sectors can develop to promote healthy
and positive media depictions of girls and women for the benefit of all
youth.
(d)The Federal Communications Commission shall ensure that
the Task Force holds its first meeting not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(e)Not
later than 1 year after the date of the first meeting of the Task Force, the
Federal Communications Commission shall submit a report to Congress that
contains—
(1)the findings of
the Task Force under subsection (c); and
(2)recommendations
for areas of improvement regarding depictions of girls and women in the
media.
6.Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, the Secretary may not use amounts made available under this Act to conduct
or support activities or programs that are duplicative of activities or
programs otherwise carried out through the Department of Health and Human
Services or the Department of Education.
7.In this Act:
(1)The term media includes
television programs, motion pictures, video games, music and music videos, the
Internet, social media, digital video recorders, cell phones, magazines,
newspapers, books, advertisements, and other emerging technologies designed for
communication, entertainment, education, or information.
(2)The term
Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(3)The term
sexualization means a circumstance when—
(A)a person’s value
comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other
characteristics;
(B)a person is held
to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) and
personal value with appearing, acting, and being sexy;
(C)a person is
sexually objectified, or made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than
seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decisionmaking;
or
(D)sexuality is
inappropriately imposed upon a person.
(4)The term Task Force means the
National Task Force on Girls and Women in the Media convened under section
5.
8.Authorization of
appropriationsFor the purpose
of carrying out sections 3 and 4, there are authorized to be appropriated, in
addition to any other amounts available for such purpose—
(1)$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, of
which—
(A)$2,000,000 shall
be allocated to the program under section 3(a);
(B)$2,000,000 shall
be allocated to the program under section 3(b); and
(C)$1,000,000 shall
be allocated to the program under section 4; and
(2)$2,000,000 for
each fiscal years 2013 through 2016, of which—
(A)$500,000 shall be
allocated to the program under section 3(a);
(B)$500,000 shall be
allocated to the program under section 3(b); and
(C)$1,000,000 shall
be allocated to the program under section 4.