The Massachusetts Media Literacy Consortium
is working to pass Senate Bill 1956:
An Act concerning media literacy in schools
is working to pass Senate Bill 1956:
An Act concerning media literacy in schools
Sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark
This bill would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement media literacy education for students in kindergarten through grade 12.
It is critical that Massachusetts students learn media literacy skills because:
1. Consumption of media by children and youth has risen dramatically.
A study released January 20, 2010 by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically over the past five years, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media in a typical day – more than 53 hours a week. And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’, they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
2. In the media, children are exposed to sexualization, violence, bullying, marketing of unhealthy foods, alcohol and tobacco, and unhealthy body images and gender stereotyping. Media consumption influences children’s behavior and can contribute to aggression, violence and bullying, depression, body image issues, obesity, substance abuse, and other negative effects on physical and mental health.
A December 2010 report by the Parents Television Council found a high level of sexualization of young teenage girls on broadcast television shows aimed at 12 to 17 year olds. Among the findings, many more underage female characters than adults are shown in sexual depictions, and almost all of those are unhealthy sexual situations. At the same time, almost all of the underage female characters are portrayed as accepting their sexualization.
A February 2007 report by the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls in the Media found that the sexualization of girls and women in the media is increasingly common and virtually every media form studied provides ample evidence of the sexualization of women, including television, music videos, music lyrics, movies, magazines, sports media, video games, the Internet and advertising. The APA found that girls’ exposure to such content is linked to mental health problems such as eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression, among other negative consequences.
Former elite model Nicole Clark, director of the documentary film Cover Girl Culture, says young teens rank entertainment media as their top source for information regarding sexuality and sexual health.
Actress Geena Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Media and Gender said the institute’s research revealed that when female characters do exist in media, most are highly stereotyped and/or hyper-sexualized. Female characters in G-rated films wear virtually the same amount of sexually revealing clothing as female characters in R-rated films, and studies show that the more television girls watch, the more limited they consider their options in life; the more boys watch, the more sexist their views become.
Research shows that viewing television commercials leads to increased body dissatisfaction for both male and female adolescents. In one study, more than half of boys ages 11-17 chose as their physical ideal an image only possible to obtain using steroids. A National Eating Disorders study in 2008 found about 42% of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, and 81% of ten-year-olds are afraid of being fat. Recent research shows both boys and girls are developing body image issues at younger and younger ages.
An American Academy of Pediatrics study released June 21, 2010 concluded that branding food packages with licensed characters substantially influences young children’s taste preferences and snack selection and does so most strongly for energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods.
The American Psychological Association finds that in recent years the level of violence in American society and the level of violence portrayed in television, film, and video have escalated markedly; many children's television programs and films contain some form of violence, and children's access to adult-oriented media violence is increasing as a result of new technological advances; the conclusion drawn on the basis of over 30 years of research and a sizeable number of experimental and field investigations is that viewing mass media violence leads to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behavior, particularly in children, and has a long-lasting effect on behavior and personality, including criminal behavior.
3. Media literacy can help children navigate these messages and is considered a key 21st century critical thinking and analysis skill.
Media literacy skills can help children:
• Develop critical thinking skills.
• Understand how media messages shape our culture and society.
• Identify target marketing strategies.
• Recognize what the media maker wants us to believe or do.
• Name the techniques of persuasion used.
• Recognize bias, spin, misinformation, and lies.
• Discover the parts of the story that are not being told.
• Evaluate media messages based on our own experiences, skills, beliefs, and values.
• Create and distribute their own media messages.
• Advocate for a changed media system.
(The Media Literacy Project)
According to the National Association for Media Literacy Education; to become a successful student, responsible citizen, productive worker, or competent and conscientious consumer, individuals need to develop expertise with the increasingly sophisticated information and entertainment media that address us on a multi-sensory level, affecting the way we think, feel, and behave.
Research demonstrates that media literacy skills contribute to young people’s healthy social and emotional development, and that there is particularly strong evidence that the deconstruction of tobacco and alcohol advertising in health education alters children’s attitudes and expectations about the use of those substances, according to Renee Hobbs, founder of The Media Education Lab at Temple University.
The APA supports the development, implementation, and evaluation of school-based programs to educate children and youth regarding means for critically viewing, processing, and evaluating video and film portrayals of both aggressive and prosocial behaviors.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a national organization of businesses and educators, includes media literacy as one of the core skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.
