The Challenge
You wouldn’t give your car keys to a young child or even a teen who hasn’t completed driver’s ed, so why do children and teens have access to engage with media without equipping them with the skills and tools they need to navigate safely?
What Is Media Literacy?
The messages, images, information, and experiences we engage with every day through media help shape our beliefs, attitudes, values, and identity. Media can entertain, inform, and engage our children in positive ways. But the negative impact that media can have on our children is profound and extensive. However, media literacy can be learned and media literacy education provides us all with the tools and skills needed to be confident and competent media consumers.
Research
We’re eager for more research on media literacy and media literacy education and in recent years, we’ve partnered with a handful of organizations to facilitate the collection of more data. Research is one tool that advocates can use to help highlight the need for media literacy, and can also help establish a baseline and benchmark before implementing media literacy strategies to better measure success and identify best practices.
