Cyberbullying tweets from the President of the United States. Sexism in Silicon Valley. Fake news from social media feeds fuelling online hate.
It’s been a rough year so far on the digital media landscape.
In this lesson students consider diversity representation in video games by identifying examples of diversity in the games they play, comparing their findings to statistics on diversity in the Canadian population.
In this lesson students consider how well their favourite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of Canadian society.
October is National Cyber Security month and the Information and Communications Council (ICTC) and MediaSmarts, in partnership with Encounters Canada and Hive Toronto, are bringing together industry leaders, compelling speakers, and 200 secondary school students for 2 days of engagement on Digital Literacy, Cyber Citizenship and Cyber Security.
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.
In January, American Vice-President Joe Biden met with video game industry representatives in the wake of the tragic events at Sandy Hook to discuss the possible relationship between video games and gun violence. Five days later, President Barack Obama asked the United States Congress to fund more research to study the potential link between violence and video games, noting that “We don’t benefit from ignorance”.
Racial stereotypes abound on television, and children's programming is no exception. The turban-wearing bad guy, the brainy Asian, and the Black basketball whiz are just a few of the stereotypes reinforced in children's cartoons, films and TV shows. Spotting these stereotypes is often difficult for children; to them, the tomahawk-wielding Indian or the Asian karate expert is a familiar, easily-understood and often funny character. So how do you help children understand these images for what they are – oversimplified, generalizations?
2SLGBTQ+ people have been involved in producing their own media for as long as alternative media has existed, but with the advent of the electronic age and cheaper and more accessible electronic devices for production, there has been an explosion of 2SLGBTQ+-produced media of all kinds. The following section explores the ways that 2SLGBTQ+ people have sought to claim space for themselves within media and culture.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Screen-Free Week (May 4th to 10th), and it’s striking to consider just how our relationship with screen media has changed in that time.
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-holds barred combat sport called pankration. Being the very best that humans could be was seen as the best way to honour the gods of Olympus.