Once upon a time Screen-Free Week used to be known as TV Turnoff and Digital Detox Week. Participating in TV Turnoff was a bit easier when my daughters were younger because laptops, tablets and iPhones weren’t nearly as pervasive as they are today.
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.
Youth want clear and simple online privacy policies to better understand online consent
Schools are supposed to be public spaces, but more and more advertisers are using them to target youth. Corporations know just how much time kids spend at school, whether in class, in after-school activities or just hanging out with their friends, and they don’t want to pass up a chance to reach them there. A school setting delivers a captive youth audience and implies the endorsement of teachers and the education system.
In this lesson Buy Nothing Day is used as a jumping-off point to look at the role of consumerism in our lives and culture.
This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the New Brunswick Visual Arts 6 curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
Apply decision‐making strategies to various personal and community financial scenarios.
a. Discuss how factors such as needs, wants, habits, values, risks, economic influences and current financial situation affect decisions.
b. Identify and role‐play various scenarios using decision‐making strategies such as agonizing, procrastination, spontaneity, compliance and security.
Parents, you may be aware that Media Literacy Week is October 24-28 and Digital Citizen Day is October 26, but we should talk about digital media literacy all year round. We are raising kids who are going to be so much better at using media for (hopefully) good; for their education, careers, community giving and passions. It’s moving quickly and we are trying to keep up.
This printable activity sheet introduces basic media literacy skills and concepts and is suitable for use in homes, schools and libraries. It can be completed independently, but children will learn more if you discuss the activity with them. Younger children may need help reading the instructions and completing the activity.