Just a joke? Helping youth respond to casual prejudice
One of the barriers to youth pushing back against prejudice is not wanting to over-react, particularly if they feel their peers were just ‘joking around.’ Humour, however, can often be a cover for intentional bullying and prejudice. In this lesson, students analyze media representations of relational aggression, such as sarcasm and put-down humour, then consider the ways in which digital communication may make it harder to recognize irony or satire and easier to hurt someone’s feelings without knowing it. Students then consider how humour may be used to excuse prejudice and discuss ways of responding to it.
Television Broadcast Ratings - Lesson
This lesson introduces students to the theory behind television ratings and encourages them to explore the commercial pressures driving the medium.
Miscast and Seldom Seen - Lesson
In this lesson students consider how well their favourite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of Canadian society.
Teaching Media: Critically Evaluating Media
In this lesson, students learn how media influence how we see the world and send intentional and unintentional messages.
Facing TV Violence: Rewriting the Script - Lesson
This lesson teaches children that television doesn't always offer the best solutions to conflict.