The Choice

Media literacy is multifaceted at the very least. According to Hobbs and Moore in Digital Media Literacy, "Digital and media literacy includes the ability to access, analyze, compose, reflect, and take action in the world." Another good touchstone in thinking deeper about media literacy is Andrea Quijada's TEDx talk, "Creating critical thinkers through media literacy," where she outlines the ways that she became a critical thinker concerning media. We, as humans, have the power to ignore ads when they try to manipulate us, but this process is active. We cannot passively interact with media if we want to defend against the constant onslaught of messages that media presents. Children are affected by these message, perhaps in a stronger way. We, as educators, have a responsibility to show students that they have a choice.

The goal of media literacy can be accomplished through familiarization and evaluation of any media type. When we work through how something was made and with what motives, we begin to see that we, too, can create in a similar way. Hands on activities with rearranging cuttings from magazines is a great way to get children to analyze and restructure ads. However, ads are not the only culprits of media manipulation. Students could read an article and respond to its author, either hypothetically or by sending a letter to the editor. Teachers have a voice in students' lives. If we pull back the curtain, students are more likely to realize what is lurking in media.