Then assign them the task of creating a time machine that will be opened in exactly 100 years from now by future students at your school. Depending on their age, you may need to explain the basic tenets of both perspectives. Divide students into two groups and informally label them liberals or conservatives. The goal here is to understand the sheer power that media has on our psyche, well-being, goals, and outlook on life. Ask how it might affect some of their peers, especially those who don’t fit certain stereotypes deemed most desirable by messages from media. Are these commercials inclusive in their portrayal of individuals of different races, ethnicities, genders, body types, and sexual orientation? Do they tend to elevate certain definitions of beauty, fitness, health, and celebrity/influencer culture while de-emphasizing others? Ask students how it affects them as viewers, both in their thoughts as well as in how they try to look and act. Assign groups of students to one of these categories, and task them with identifying five commercials from YouTube that are representative of each theme. Have students analyze how the media affects their perceptions of beauty, fitness, health, and celebrity/influencer culture. After they finish, they might read what history books say about the 1990s, or chat with adults who lived through that decade, and see if their perspective (based on the media of the times) and the historical reality align.ĮVALUATE MEDIA-SHAPED PERCEPTIONS OF BEAUTY. Let them provide their own perceptions, rather than being informed by history books and older family members. We then want them to portray the tone and tenor of the times by synthesizing the most relevant and compelling pieces into a single product. After reviewing all of these social artifacts, certain themes and patterns will rise to the top. This content might include political ads, music videos, celebrity news, public service announcements, and more. For instance, you might have them watch video clips and read stories about the 1990s. Have students create a poster, infographic, or set of memes for a specific decade by using information found online. The activity shows how crucial certain elements of a story are, and how they color our perceptions of what happened. Ask them again to reflect on the article and determine if and how their perception of what happened changed. Once done, provide them with the original article inclusive of all of the details you removed. Then, have students read the redacted article and write out their reflections, opinions, and ideas as to what was redacted. For instance, you might mark out the date, times, and locations, as well as the names, race, gender, whether they are a celebrity or another public personality, and any other identifying elements. Grab a recent online article that students would find interesting and relevant, and blackout key facts in the article before presenting it to them. Here are ten activities that you can use to teach youth to help them grow in their media literacy skills and move from passive to active, critical consumption of what they see, hear, and read online.įILL IN THE BLANK ACTIVITY. As such, it is imperative as responsible citizens that we use our critical thinking and analytical skills to evaluate the authenticity of content we consume, especially if we intend to share it with others. To make matters worse, “deepfake” media (photos, videos, and audio recordings that have been manipulated) is becoming more sophisticated and less easily discernible. Anyone can post nearly anything at any time, from pretty much anywhere, and there are very few restrictions or quality control checks applied to what appears online. Media literacy is best defined as the ability to access, create, analyze, and evaluate messages in a variety of forms. pdf version of this article for distribution, click on the image above ).
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