Julia Mongan
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Young generations in today’s era are more than likely going to possess some form of technology from which they receive information. Looking at New Jersey, which recently passed to require media literacy to be taught in public school classrooms, displays the difference between this new digital age and former generations.
Without much knowledge on how technology will impact children who grew up surrounded by it, Maryland is looking to teach media literacy in the formative classrooms of today; it carries the potential to increase political awareness for the future.
Equipping students with the skills to evaluate and navigate the media landscape critically empowers the right to be informed and engaged.
“If we want to include media literacy, we will want them to have it before high school”, states Megan Fromm, NAMLE Education Manager. “It starts as soon as kids start engaging in media such as watching Disney Channel or playing Minecraft. Media Literacy can help them figure out what role the media has played for them”.
Fromm goes on to express the importance of carrying media literacy education itself as a core class, yet also stating that it should be added in a way which makes sense to the curriculum already established.
However, the media’s effect on areas such as government and political issues raises red flags in terms of misinformation and bias. With various outlets that allow forms of communication and engagement, things can be easily seen differently than what the reality really is.
“For most of these digital natives, they have no concept of a world (or self-concept) apart from it,” states Jana Duckett, Morgan State University Assistant
Professor. “The overconsumption of media has raised much concern in various areas of mental health, disinformation, addiction, polarization, and censorship.”
Duckett continues to explain how media literacy is a skill for the active citizenry and should be taught to children age-appropriately at all grade levels within schools.
“We live in a mediatized society. Thus, these skills are vital”, Duckett states. “This was true before, but now even more so as artificial intelligence and machining learning advance.”
Moreover, media literacy encourages active participation in the digital public sphere. Properly equipping Gen X and future generations with the tools to think critically opens a gateway to proper political engagement and education for important events such as the upcoming 2024 election.
Students themselves have also expressed an interest in the topic of media literacy within universities.
“In my media literacy class, the last two times I would teach the course of 30 students, and a minority of them were actually media students”, states Wayne Dawkins, Morgan State University Professor.
Introducing the analog era and then going into the age of technology is the best approach to give students a taste of the overall concept and its importance, according to Dawkins.
Furthermore, the teaching of media literacy holds the ability to allow children to grow up in a way that allows them to think critically about what they see online and how it affects them. This shifts future political engagement in what messages are received and how they choose to move forward with it.
As today’s age has revolutionized into a technology-based society, adjusting the requirements for what is being taught to children is critical to properly equipping them to impact society positively.