Northeast > Resources > Topic Specific > Effective Prevention Practices > What is media literacy?

What is media literacy and where can I find information about resources to use with youth?

Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. More specifically, it is education that aims to increase students' understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. Barry Duncan, et al., Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ontario Ministry of Education, Toronto, ON., Canada, 1989.

By understanding how the media functions, students can then develop their own media products, such as public service announcements, advertising campaigns, pamphlets, flyers, etc., to promote healthy behaviors. The following is a list of useful Internet resources which provide definitions, links, and resources for media literacy. The first set of resources are general media literacy, the second set are youth-focused resources.

General Resources:

What is Media Literacy?
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

The New York Times "Media Literacy for Drug Prevention" website contains a middle school unit educator's guide for using media literacy as a drug prevention tool in the classroom. A comprehensive listing of media literacy links can be found at the New York Times "Media Literacy for Drug Prevention" website: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/NIE/medialiteracy/links.html

The Media Education Foundation has a comprehensive listing of media literacy resources which can be found at: http://www.mediaed.org/resources/#mediaLiteracy

The Alliance for a Media Literate America offers a variety of links, with brief descriptions of each site: http://amlainfo.org

Just Think
http://www.justthink.org
An organization devoted to teaching young people to understand the words and images in media and to think for themselves.

Listen Up!
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/about/listenup.html
The Listen Up! mission is to help youth be heard in the mass media, contributing to a culture of free speech and social responsibility.

Literacy Through Photography
http://www-cds.aas.duke.edu/ltp/index.html
Originally launched in the Durham Public School System in 1989 as a two-week project through the Center for Documentary Studies, LTP thrives in 14 public schools and encourages students to find their voice through photographs and written text.

VidKids
http://138.23.124.101/exhibitions/cmp_ed_prog.html
VidKids is an outreach program that was initiated by the UCR/California Museum of Photography in 1992. The project gives elementary-age students an opportunity to learn the technical and creative aspects of video and related media.

Project Literacy Among Youth
http://www.kidsplay.org
Project Literacy Among Youth (PLAY) is a not-for-profit sponsorship of media literacy among young people.

Please contact the Northeast CAPT at capt@edc.org for more information.