For the week of November 3rd-7th, educators across Canada gathered to create awareness about media literacy. I did not participate in any events for this week and as such, I cannot write about my experiences. If I did that, my blog would end HERE.
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But lucky for you, it doesn’t! I am going to pretend that I did participate in National Media Education Week, and while pretending I am going to say that during this week, I had the opportunity to go to elementary schools and talk to the children about media literacy. I think it is very important for children, especially, do be media literate. In elementary school, the only tip of advice I was given was “Don’t talk to strangers online!” That was it – no whys/why nots, what are possible consequences if one does this?, and so on. Granted I were actually given the opportunity to speak to elementary school students, here are some of the things I would talk about. All issues relate to the age group of elementary school students, and therefore talking in depth about these issues will help prevent other issues in the future.
· It is important for children to know that they should not be talking to strangers on the internet. They especially should not give out any personal information as to where they live, how old they are, what their interests are, and so on. They should not send pictures or videos of themselves, and they should NEVER meet them. One of my Youtube vlogger friends meets so many friends on the internet and in her defence she says “Yeah, but I’ve seen them on Youtube; They aren’t 50 and creepy.” Even if you have seen an internet friend on webcam does not mean they act that way in real life. One has to wonder why these people are trying to make friends on Youtube all the time, and not real friends in the real world. To emphasize this issue, I would tell the children real stories of abduction, rape, and even murder via the internet.
· Children need to be aware of the consequences of internet bullying. Bullying is made so easy on the internet, and I know people that are my age who STILL participate in such. Examples of internet bullying are as followed: [1] direct bullying over MSN, [2] hacking into someone’s e-mail account and sending mean messages to that person’s friends, [3] making or joining a Facebook group entitled “Sam is the biggest loser in life”, or something of that nature. These are only some of the common forms of internet bullying. Children need to be aware that internet bullying can (for the victim) lead to depression, anxiety, and worst case scenario – suicide.
· Children often do not realize that not everything that is said on the internet is true – just about anybody can write nonsense on the computer and call it a fact. This goes for images as well. Children need to learn about legitimate resources on the internet VS illegitimate ones. For example, Wikipedia is not completely legit. I love Wikipedia, personally, but one has to be careful when using it as a resource. As for images, the one aspect I would like to focus on is how females are portrayed in the media. Children see these images of females with a flat stomach, massive breasts, a cute butt, and an absolutely gorgeous face, with no pimples or blemishes. Girls especially (but boys as well) need to learn that there IS, in fact, such thing as Photoshop. These people are NOT this perfect in real life. Speaking from experience, many girls see these images and try to imitate them by changing their appearance in a drastic manner. This is also one of the leading causes of anorexia and bulimia amongst adolescents.
When children get to high school, these issues as well as many others need to be addressed, because in a nation where media companies are expanding, these children are our future.
...........
................................................
..........................................................................
But lucky for you, it doesn’t! I am going to pretend that I did participate in National Media Education Week, and while pretending I am going to say that during this week, I had the opportunity to go to elementary schools and talk to the children about media literacy. I think it is very important for children, especially, do be media literate. In elementary school, the only tip of advice I was given was “Don’t talk to strangers online!” That was it – no whys/why nots, what are possible consequences if one does this?, and so on. Granted I were actually given the opportunity to speak to elementary school students, here are some of the things I would talk about. All issues relate to the age group of elementary school students, and therefore talking in depth about these issues will help prevent other issues in the future.
· It is important for children to know that they should not be talking to strangers on the internet. They especially should not give out any personal information as to where they live, how old they are, what their interests are, and so on. They should not send pictures or videos of themselves, and they should NEVER meet them. One of my Youtube vlogger friends meets so many friends on the internet and in her defence she says “Yeah, but I’ve seen them on Youtube; They aren’t 50 and creepy.” Even if you have seen an internet friend on webcam does not mean they act that way in real life. One has to wonder why these people are trying to make friends on Youtube all the time, and not real friends in the real world. To emphasize this issue, I would tell the children real stories of abduction, rape, and even murder via the internet.
· Children need to be aware of the consequences of internet bullying. Bullying is made so easy on the internet, and I know people that are my age who STILL participate in such. Examples of internet bullying are as followed: [1] direct bullying over MSN, [2] hacking into someone’s e-mail account and sending mean messages to that person’s friends, [3] making or joining a Facebook group entitled “Sam is the biggest loser in life”, or something of that nature. These are only some of the common forms of internet bullying. Children need to be aware that internet bullying can (for the victim) lead to depression, anxiety, and worst case scenario – suicide.
· Children often do not realize that not everything that is said on the internet is true – just about anybody can write nonsense on the computer and call it a fact. This goes for images as well. Children need to learn about legitimate resources on the internet VS illegitimate ones. For example, Wikipedia is not completely legit. I love Wikipedia, personally, but one has to be careful when using it as a resource. As for images, the one aspect I would like to focus on is how females are portrayed in the media. Children see these images of females with a flat stomach, massive breasts, a cute butt, and an absolutely gorgeous face, with no pimples or blemishes. Girls especially (but boys as well) need to learn that there IS, in fact, such thing as Photoshop. These people are NOT this perfect in real life. Speaking from experience, many girls see these images and try to imitate them by changing their appearance in a drastic manner. This is also one of the leading causes of anorexia and bulimia amongst adolescents.
When children get to high school, these issues as well as many others need to be addressed, because in a nation where media companies are expanding, these children are our future.
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