Prevention Media Project
Students will create a substance abuse prevention media project(no longer that 3-4 minutes) targeting any population covered in the course content.
You are required to present an oral overview/statement of your project, by Week 7
Students are encouraged to be creative! It is important that students plan early in the semester for this project to ensure thatthe project earns maximum points. All projects must have the appearance of having been well thought out and organized.
When planning the media project students should considerfollowing these steps (use this guide as a checklist to ensure that you have covered all required areas of the assignment):
a. Choose a target population – the group to which the message is focused. A brief narrative of the characteristics of your target population must accompany your project.
b. Examine the target group to determine what developmental level (age group) you will choose and those factors that are important in reaching that group.
c. Consider using messages that are most likely accessible to the target group you have chosen. Your target population can be defined by geographical area (country, region, town, etc.), as well as by age of the group and gender. It is important to be as specific as possible, remembering that the reach of your project likely will be broader than you may have thought.
d. Remember to give considerable thought to the text of your message, noting that “less is better”, you don’t want to pack your message with a lot of text that won’t grab the attention of your target population. Often the use of color, symbols and pictures will attract the attention of the target group. Pamphlets that have pictures of the people/group you are targeting are more likely to be read, than pamphlets that are not representative of the culture of the group you are targeting (ex. You would not want to give a Hispanic person a pamphlet that has pictures on it of only African Americans).
e. Also, the usefulness of the item you use to put your message on will help the recipient to keep your message within their sight (i.e. pens, mouse pads, pencils, waste bags for cars, refrigerator magnets, stress balls, small hand sanitizers, flash drives, etc.). These items though small are excellent ways of communicating messages.
When planning audio messages perhaps on the local radio station, consider the schedule and times your target will be most available to hear your message. For example, the best time to reach elderly African American females may be Sunday morning, between the hours of 7:30 and 9:00 a.m. Your research will need to be broad enough to determine the best time or source to reach your target group.
