Talking Media With Teens: Guiding Conversations in a Digital World (9-12)

Teens today are growing up in a media landscape that looks very different from the one most parents experienced. From social media and streaming shows to pornography, “alpha-male” influencers, and trad-wife content, young people are constantly receiving messages about bodies, relationships, gender roles, and power, often without much context or guidance.

Join Liv Hockenberry for this interactive workshop designed to help parents better understand the kinds of media their teens are exposed to and how those messages can shape beliefs about sex, relationships, and identity. We will explore how pornography and online gender-based communities intersect with mainstream media, and why open, shame-free conversations at home are one of the strongest protective factors for teens.

Parents will leave with practical tools, conversation starters, and trusted resources to help them talk with their adolescents about difficult or uncomfortable topics, even if they’re not sure where to begin.

In this workshop, parents will:

• Learn about the different types of media teens commonly consume and the messages embedded in them
• Better understand how porn, influencers, and sexually explicit media can impact teens’ beliefs and expectations
• Explore why ongoing conversations matter
• Practice age-appropriate, non-judgmental ways to start and continue conversations at home
• Receive take-home resources to support future discussions

Speaker Bio:

Liv Hockenberry is a second year Master's student in the Child Studies program at Vanderbilt concentrating in healthy sexual development and sex education. Prior to working at USN, Liv has worked as a sex educator in middle and high school classrooms at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, a sex educator at the adolescent mental health support company BeMe Health, an intern at the K-12 sex education organization The Talk NYC, and on her own, provides out of school human sexuality education for parents and caregivers looking for additonal support.