| MediaSmarts

Looks Good Enough to Eat

This lesson looks at food photography and the different techniques used by food stylists to make foods look appealing in advertisements.

Food Marketing, Marketing & Consumerism

This lesson familiarizes children with how and why “junk food” is advertised to kids. The lesson starts with an introduction to advertising and a discussion of the gimmicks involved in food advertising to kids. Students discuss the various foods they see advertised in their daily lives versus the ones they don’t see, drawing important points from this data. With this information in mind, students complete an advertising log and also choose an advertisement and analyzing its subject matter in relation to what they have just learned.

Food Marketing, Marketing & Consumerism, Television

Eating Under the Rainbow

Studies have found that fast-food ads dominate children’s programming. In order to give children a perspective on the lure of snack-food advertisements, it’s important that they understand where snacks can fit into a healthy diet. Once they have an understanding of where snack food fits into their lives, they can begin to deconstruct the ads themselves.

Food Marketing, Marketing & Consumerism

Ontario Health Curriculum: Media and Digital Literacy Connections for K-12

The new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum released this year by the Ontario Ministry of Education is the first major revision to the subject area in almost 30 years.

Body Image, Cyberbullying, Digital Health, Diversity in Media, Excessive Internet Use, Food Marketing, Gender Representation, Internet & Mobile, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Ethics, Professional Development, Resources, Social Networking, Video Games

Privacy and Bullying

Despite their enthusiastic participation in social media, it’s a mistake to think that young people don’t care about privacy. MediaSmarts’ 2014 study Young Canadians in a Wired World, which surveyed over 5,000 students across Canada on their experiences with and attitudes towards digital media, found that they do have very strong feelings about their privacy, and take significant steps to control it.

Cyberbullying, Privacy, Young Canadians In A Wired World

Co-Co's AdverSmarts Teacher's Guide

Co-Co’s AdverSmarts: An Interactive Unit on Food Marketing on the Web is an educational game for young children. The purpose of the game is to teach five- to eight-year-olds how to recognize commercial websites that target kids through highly engaging and interactive Web environments.

Food Marketing, Internet & Mobile, Marketing & Consumerism, Online Gambling

Talk Back! How to Take Action on Media Issues

Talk Back! How to Take Action on Media Issues gives you the tools to talk back to media companies.

Digital Citizenship, Diversity in Media, Food Marketing, Gender Representation, Journalism & News, Marketing & Consumerism, Movies, Music, Parents, Sports, Stereotyping, Television, Video Games, Violence

How Do Canadian Teens Make Decisions When Sharing Photos?

Building on MediaSmarts’ findings on youth and privacy from our Young Canadians in a Wired World research, our new qualitative study, To Share or Not to Share: How Teens Make Privacy Decisions about Photos on Social Media examines the reasoning that teens apply when sharing photos online.

Cell Phones and Texting, Privacy, Social Networking, Young Canadians In A Wired World