Teaching youth about marketing and consumerism focus of Media Literacy Week 2013

Ottawa (March, 2013) MediaSmarts and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) are pleased to announce that marketing and consumerism will be the focus of Canada’s eighth annual Media Literacy Week, to be held November 4-8, 2013.

The official theme of the week: “What’s Being Sold: Helping Kids Make Sense of Marketing Messages” , will encourage educators and parents to talk to children and teens about the marketing they encounter on a daily basis.  

“Young people are surrounded by advertising everywhere they turn and on an increasing number of platforms,” says Cathy Wing, MediaSmarts Co-Executive Director, “It’s important that we help them recognize when they’re being marketed to and how to understand the messages that are targeting them.”

During the week a variety of activities will take place across the country to raise awareness of marketing issues that affect children and teens including body image, online marketing, food advertising and tobacco and alcohol marketing.

CTF President Paul Taillefer adds: “As teachers, we see first-hand how advertising influences the manner in which students perceive themselves and the world around them.  As a national teacher organization, we believe in helping students develop a critical eye with respect to media advertising which will help them make wise and healthy decisions.”

The goal of Media Literacy Week is to promote the importance of digital and media literacy education in Canadian homes, schools and communities.

MediaSmarts and the CTF are pleased to welcome back YouTube as the 2013 Gold Sponsor of Media Literacy Week.

To find out how to get involved or become a sponsor of the week, visit: http://www.medialiteracyweek.ca/

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MediaSmarts (formerly Media Awareness Network) is a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. Its vision is that young people have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. MediaSmarts’ programs are supported by: Rogers, TELUS, CIRA, Google, Copyright Collective of Canada, Bell, Shaw, Bell Media, National Film Board of Canada and Symantec. www.mediasmarts.ca, twitter.com/MediaSmarts

Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) represents nearly 200,000 teachers as their national voice on education and related social issues.

Contacts:

Maya Shoucair, Communications Officer, MediaSmarts, 613-224-7721, ext. 231, mshoucair@mediasmarts.ca

Francine Filion, Director of Communications, CTF, 613-688-4314