Module 1 Readings- Gianna White
Prior to this media literacy class my knowledge about media literacy was very minimal. My brain has been filling up with tons of new information my mind has never known before. After reading over the articles I began to see a trend that reminded me of my earlier days as a child any why media was so strict in my household as I was growing up. Now I am beginning to understand more of why my parents made the conscientious decisions they did.
Getting deeper into the course readings I would like to begin my reflection by explaining the importance of the 3 stages of media literacy, defined by Elizabeth Thoman. The first stage of media literacy is “simply becoming aware of the importance of managing one’s media diet”, the second stage is “learning specific skills of critical viewing”, and the third stage “goes behind the frame to explore deeper issues of the media produced”. Beginning with the first stage we see how crucial it is becoming aware of how much media we are exposing ourselves with on a daily basis. This discussion begins with children who do not yet clearly see the importance of receiving media within reasonable dosages. For children limiting the time spent watching TV, playing video games, and using the internet can help create a barrier between the negative media influences children aren’t quite in tune with yet. The importance of stage two is seeing and identifying the importance or non-influential programs that children are being exposed to. Since young children are heavily under the guidance of the parents and teachers during their development years the type of media exposed should be beneficial and age appropriate. As children grow older making the conscientious decisions of exposure to media that is fruitful will be a goal they will hopefully obtain. The third stage I believe goes deeper into the age where children/teenagers will be able to learn to define the harmful issues media seems to create in this world, and how the media has been influencing their lives. I related these stages to the media literacy we hope children will develop through the guidance of their parents or other adults and teachers to help further educate them on the effects of the media.
Going through these reading I have become more aware of the ups and downs media has to offer to this world especially children, which is the main focus. An article I found to be extremely eye opening was from the University of Michigan Health System, Television and Children by Kyla Boyse, 2010. This source shared the dangers of watching too much Television can have on children and their health. In today’s day and age it seems to be convenient and satisfying to place children in front of the TV where they seem to be occupied for hours. But in reality there are several harms TV can have on young children with almost too many to count. Some downsides to media messages on TV are the chances of aggressive and violent behavior, violent movies can traumatize and scare children, gives a higher chance of becoming overweight due to inactivity, and may begin to promote the use of tobacco and alcohol. These are only a few of the impacts television can have on young children. Touching upon a downside of TV was the higher probability of a child becoming overweight, “children who watch TV are more likely to be inactive and tend to snack while watching TV” (Boyse 2010). With that statement noted some children spend hours sitting by the TV snacking on various unhealthy snacks are not being active as young children hope to be can lead to poor health habits like weight gain. Limiting the time children spend watching TV and monitoring what children are watching regularly might not be ideal to the child’s liking but is important to their successful growth and development.
Another form of media that influences children is music. Most children seem to enjoy music dancing along to the beat, memorizing the lyrics to songs, even idolizing the hit pop stars. I can remember as a child being obsessed with Britney Spears. Everything about her I seemed to love her music, her outfits, and her dance moves. But my dad was not so keen about my obsession, he didn’t favor me listening to her music and watching her music videos as often as I did. Knowing what I know now he seemed to believe her music was a bit mature for my age and thought I should listen to other artists I could relate to easier. My dad was not sure if “hit me baby one more time” was the right music choice for a 6 year old girl. From the Jesse Gainer article, Social Critique and Pleasure 2007, this article exemplified a similar scenario to my personal experience. The article shares a story about a 9 year old girl named Clara and her father listening to one of their favorite songs on the radio “my humps”. There was a line in the song mentioning whatcha gonna do with all that junk inside your trunk and Clara was asking for the meaning of that particular line. Clara’s father knew “it was part of his job as a parent and a teacher to address the images and messages and help my daughter critically interpret them” (Gainer, 2007). Although Clara’s Father’s reaction was different than my own Father’s I thought the relation was important due to the decision of acting upon an appropriate media course of action. Parents will choose to handle media situations in various ways. Along with the explanation comes the realization of appropriate forms of media you wish your child to be surrounded by.
Comparing some philosophies implemented by Zaslow and Butler (2002) my father and Clara’s father from the article used different models of media literacy while approaching their children with a media concern. My father seemed to be coming from the protectionist point of view, where “youth are protected from powerful media”. His goal was to take Britney Spears out of my media allowance and replace it with another form of age appropriate media. This could lead to the child resisting the decision, which I did since I thought it to be unfair. I believe the article Social Critique and Pleasure to be coming from the Ideological point of view. This philosophy comes from the idea for “youth to be taught to question the media representations and identify the hidden messages in the piece of media”. Clara’s father decided to carefully explain what the song lyrics meant since Clara was using her curious instincts of a child to question what the song was really implying. Needless to say I do not believe one philosophy over rules the other but both have different agendas when it comes to using each technique.
