Popular culture, news media, and the way we consume violence on social media all play significant roles in shaping and reinforcing narratives of violence against women and diverse communities.
Traditional media like film, print and music still have a significant impact on young people’s body image. Research has found that even news coverage can promote weight bias by how it portrays people in larger bodies, both in photographs and in how it frames weight and health.
There’s significant evidence that media education can counter unrealistic media representations of men’s and women’s bodies. For example, a 2015 study found that girls as young as Grade 5 who had received media literacy education in school had higher self-esteem and body satisfaction.
The AI industry encompasses both major technology companies that integrate algorithms into existing products and firms focused primarily on developing and deploying specialized AI services, primarily Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative tools.
No longer relegated to the realms of innuendo and secrecy, today we see a wide range of gender identities and sexual orientations represented on television and in mainstream film alongside cisgender people. 2SLGBTQ+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans, queer and gender and sexually diverse communities) people see their reflections on screen in a wide variety of roles. And yet, there remain many challenges.
As adults, we want to foster resilience in young people, starting when they’re young. This can be done by teaching them how to handle harassing messages or requests that make them feel uncomfortable – on the internet or in the schoolyard – and, as they get older, by teaching them how to spot and respond to emotional manipulation. The good news is that most teens are effectively handling online requests from strangers – the bigger challenge is helping them handle sexual advances from people they know.
Many curricular expectations in Newfoundland and Labrador Religious Education courses relate to media and digital literacy. The following excerpts from Ethics and Philosophy 2101 (2010) detail how media and digital literacy have been integrated into the curriculum:
In 2016, British Columbia launched a new Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies curriculum which it describes as “an experiential, hands-on program of learning through design and creation that includes skills and concepts from traditional and First Peoples practice; from the existing disciplines of Business Education, Home Economics and Culinary Arts, Information and Communication Technology, and Technology Education; and from new and emerging fields. It fosters the development of the skills and knowledge that will support students in developing practical, creative, and innovative responses to everyday needs and challenges.”
Strands in the Technological Education curriculum
The overall and specific expectations for each course in the technological education curriculum are typically organized in four distinct but related strands. The strands are Fundamentals; Skills; Technology, the Environment, and Society; and Professional Practice and Career Opportunities.
The Grade Nine and Ten curriculum document Technological Education includes information on how media literacy is relevant to the content of these courses: