A Note From the Director
They first asked for my definition of media literacy, which is as follows: media literacy is the ability to understand what media is, its role in our lives, and the kinds of messages it sends. To teach media literacy is to deconstruct media, with an end goal of understanding it well enough to create one’s own messages.
I believe this is particularly important for our youth, who spend inordinate amounts of time online. I’ve heard adults discount youth by saying, “real life is not about likes and followers.” And yet for many of our young folks, it is. So let’s not discount that. Let’s understand that in order to get the likes and follows, first, they become content creators. They’re putting stuff out there that in many ways is very personal. They’re making themselves vulnerable. And why are likes and followers so important? What role is media playing in their lives, and what hole is it filling? As a mom of two teenagers and one young adult, these are things I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about.
