Hey, I didn't know Jessica Simpson was a sixth-grade teacher! Just kidding. What really stood out for me in the article "Media-Savvy Kids" (Lundstrom, 2004), was that even though teachers complain about not having enough time to teach media literacy in their already-packed curriculums, many are doing it without even knowing it. The article states that media literacy is a process, not a content area. Teachers should approach it as just another way to teach critical thinking skills, not as another topic to try to squeeze into the day. Because research says that children can spend up to four and a half hours a day in front of TV screens, computer monitors, or video games, it is important for educators to teach them skills for evaluating all of the information they are receiving. The result? According to studies, kids may become less agressive, be more skeptical of tobacco and liquor ads, develop healthier eating habits, and even improve reading and listening comprehension scores on standardized tests. It is vitally important to teach children not to accept everything they see, hear, and read in the media as the gospel truth. They must learn to look beyond the surface message and evaluate the message on a deeper level.

In order to evaluate all of the messages they receive, there are five key questions that media-savvy kids must ask.

• Who created this message? (how might their personal feelings and goals influence it?)
• What creative techniques are used to get my attention? (what are the tricks?)
• How might different people interpret this message? (what audience was targeted, and does this message apply to me?)
• What lifestyles, values, and points of view are in this message? What was left out and why? (does everyone share these lifestyles, values, and points of view?)
• Why is this message being sent? (what is the result the creator is hoping to achieve?)

The responsibility for creating media-savvy kids cannot rest solely on teachers, since much of the child's exposure to media happens outside of the school. Teachers and parents must work together to introduce and reinforce the skills children need to become media literate. Cable in the Classroom has resources available for both parents and teachers, helping these adults become more media literate themselves before they tackle the issue with youngsters. PBS also offers a great website for parents, which guides them in asking appropriate questions to help children evaluate electronic media including movies, television, the internet, advertising, and video games. Parents and teachers should also remember that librarians are a valuable resource in the quest for media literacy!

Media literacy is not a new issue. Even before the internet, video games, television, and radio, people had to evaluate what they read in print. Raising media-savvy kids has become such a hot topic recently because kids are exposed to media, in all its forms, at a higher volume and faster rate than ever before.

References

Cable in the Classroom http://www.ciconline.org/Enrichment/default.htm

Lundstrom, M. (2004). Media-Savvy Kids. Instructor. Retrieved February 3, 2006, from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/Nov04_mediasavvy.htm

PBS Parents http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/