That’s Not Me: Addressing diversity in media

Teachers who include media literacy in their classrooms often face issues that don’t arise in other subjects. Nothing illustrates this better than the issue of diversity in media. It’s not unreasonable for teachers to see the topic as a can of worms and be concerned about offending students and their parents – not to mention worrying about what the students themselves might say. At the same time, it’s a topic that is simply too important to be ignored: what we see in media hugely influences how we see others, ourselves and the world. As a result, an ability to analyze media depictions of diversity is not only a key element of being media literate, it’s essential to understanding many of the social issues and concerns that we face as citizens. That’s why Media Awareness Network has developed That’s Not Me – a new online tutorial for professional development to help educators and community leaders approach this issue through key concepts of media literacy.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Parents, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Television, Visible Minorities

In a hashtag, darkly

How #Ottawapiskat turned the tables on media coverage of native issues Over the last few months the Idle No More movement has succeeded in bringing Aboriginal issues to national attention. This has been due in no small part due to the movement's use of Twitter, where #IdleNoMore was a Trending Topic in both Canada and worldwide.

Indigenous People, Digital Citizenship, Diversity in Media, Social Networking

Unpacking Privilege

Students are introduced to the idea of “privilege” in relation to diversity and how it applies to media. They then look at a checklist of media related privileges to help them understand the concept.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Visible Minorities

The Pornography Debate: Controversy in Advertising - Lesson

To introduce the issue of pornography for classroom discussion. To help students understand the difficulty in determining the sometimes very fine lines between erotica, freedom of expression, and sexual exploitation and to familiarize them with guidelines for making these distinctions.

Marketing & Consumerism, Pornography

Relationships and Sexuality in the Media

In this lesson, students learn to question media representations of gender, relationships and sexuality. After a brief “myth busting” quiz about relationships in the media and a reminder of the constructed nature of media products, the teacher leads the class in an analysis of the messages about gender, sex and relationships communicated by beer and alcohol ads. Students analyze the messages communicated by their favourite media types and then contrast it with their own experience.

Alcohol Marketing, Digital Health, Gender Representation, Marketing & Consumerism, Movies, Pornography, Sexting, Television

National Aboriginal Day 2016

Every year on June 21, Canadians recognize the cultures, histories, and ongoing contributions of our First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. For 20 years, National Aboriginal Day has brought a country-wide focus to Canada’s diverse Indigenous peoples and the issues that they face.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Events

On The Loose: A Guide to Life Online For Post-Secondary Students

On the Loose: A Guide to Online Life for Post-Secondary Students supports young adults who are experiencing both new freedoms and challenges in their post- secondary life.

Authenticating Information, Cyber Security, Digital Citizenship, Digital Health, Internet & Mobile, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Ethics, Online Gambling, Online Marketing, Pornography, Privacy, Resources, Sexting, Social Networking, Video Games

I Heard It ‘Round the Internet: Sexual health education and authenticating online information - Lesson

Students will consider the use of the Internet as a research tool and learn how to use search engines more effectively. They then apply these new found skills to investigating popular myths about sexuality and contraception.

Authenticating Information, Digital Citizenship, Internet & Mobile, Pornography

Who's Telling My Story?

In this lesson students learn about the history of blackface and other examples of majority-group actors playing minority-group characters such as White actors playing Asian and Aboriginal characters and non-disabled actors playing disabled characters.

Indigenous People, Diversity in Media, Movies, Persons with Disabilities, Privilege in the Media, 2SLGBTQ+ Representation, Religion, Stereotyping, Television, Visible Minorities