Social media and screen time during a pandemic

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 17 Mar 2020.

Photo of Lynn JataniaWe’re living in a strange and uncertain time. Already, as parents, we’re feeling our way to the right set of rules and guidelines for screens and social media. But now that we’re facing an extended time of quarantine and social distancing, the rules are bending and changing every day.

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Authenticating Information, Digital Citizenship, Digital Health, Excessive Internet Use, Journalism & News, Parents, Social Networking

MediaSmarts and Facebook Tackle False News in Canadian Initiative

Submitted by MediaSmarts on 06 Apr 2017.

MediaSmarts is partnering with Facebook Canada to help Canadians become better informed readers in the digital age. False online content isn’t a new problem, and it’s not unique to Facebook, but it is up to all of us to fight it. Many of us lack the search, authentication and critical thinking skills we need to find accurate information online and to recognize false or misleading content. That’s why MediaSmarts has partnered with Facebook to help build the authentication skills of all Canadians.

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Authenticating Information, Digital Citizenship, Journalism & News

How to Talk To Your Kids About Body Image During the Olympic Games

Submitted by Matthew Johnson on 05 Aug 2016.

In ancient times the Olympics were a time when all nations – all Greek nations, anyway – would put away their differences and compete in almost every human activity, from poetry to the ferocious no-rules wrestling event called pankration. Being the very best that humans could be was seen as the best way to honour the gods of Olympus. Though we’ve dropped the poetry and the blood sports, people watching the swimming or volleyball events might wonder if we’re on the way to bringing back the ancient tradition of competing in the nude. Revealing outfits – like those designed by Lululemon for the Canadian beach volleyball team – may be practical for those events, but they also shine a light on how dressing for sports can make us feel about ourselves. After all, it’s hard to feel good about your own body when you’ve just spent an hour watching the most perfect physiques in the world nearly naked.

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Body Image, Gender Representation, Journalism & News, Parents, Sports, Television

Watching the elections

Submitted by Matthew Johnson on 17 Sep 2015.

Joe McGinniss’ book The Selling of the President had a shocking title for 1968, suggesting as it did that in the television age the presidency had become nothing more than another product to be packaged and sold. MediaSmarts’ resource, Watching the Elections (a lesson for Grades 8-12), shines a light on how the different aspects of an election – from the debates to political ads to the candidates themselves – are actually media products.

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Events, Internet & Mobile, Journalism & News, Marketing & Consumerism, Resources, Television

From Passport to MyWorld: MediaSmarts extends digital literacy skills to secondary students

Submitted by Matthew Johnson on 29 Mar 2011.

Someone encountering the Internet for the first time might be forgiven for assuming it was created specifically for teenagers. Indeed, the Internet could reasonably be said to have been aging backwards since its birth – the domain first of scientists and the military, then of university students in the 1990s and now children and teenagers. 

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Authenticating Information, Cyberbullying, Digital Citizenship, Internet & Mobile, Journalism & News, Music, Online Gambling, Online Hate, Privacy, Professional Development, Resources

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