Our Society's Future: Why We Need Media Literacy

Today’s American high school students often appear to know a great deal about media devices available to them. A problem presented with this situation is that these students are not properly educated about media literacy. Without proper education concerning how to best interpret media messages, American youth are not fully literate about their surrounding culture.

In the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007, it states that this year adults and teens will spend nearly five months watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to their MP3 devices.

Now, I thought that such a high level of media dependency would result in high school students having thorough knowledge of our political and social culture. Unfortunately, according to the Center for Media Literacy (CML), “young people use the media primarily for entertainment and recreation, not for information and education.”

It is unsettling that today’s high school students hold more knowledge about popular culture than the 2008 political campaign. These students “know little about who controls the media, how media products are made, what effects the media may have on the public, and how media socialize us.” (EdNews.org)

However, on CML’s website I discovered the article, “A Plea for Media Literacy in our Nation’s Schools.” Author, David Shaw, states “the very fact that young people spend so much time with the media that have the potential to inform and educate gives our schools an enormous opportunity (and obligation) to teach new and increasingly valuable skills.”

The United States is the most media-consumed country in the world. This fact posed the question of why media literacy education isn’t incorporated into U.S. school systems like it is in many Eastern countries. I found my answer in an article, “Why Do U.S. Students Need Media Literacy?” on EdNews.org. Author, Naomi Rockler-Gladen, simply states “that Americans generally don’t see the media as an important influence on our lives. With budget crises… many educators see media literacy as a waste of resources.”

I learned of a few valid reasons why America’s educational systems need to stress the importance of media literacy programs for high school students.

One reason is explained in a quote that I found in David Shaw’s article that states: “…Unless we teach our children how to read about, watch, interpret, understand and analyze the day’s events, we risk raising a generation of civic illiterates.” This quote really emphasizes the need for media literacy education in American schools. If students are not properly educated about media message interpretation, they may be vulnerable to misleading advertising and faulty ideas.

A second reason is media literacy courses can be fun and educational at the same time. When high school educators teach literature or other subjects students might find boring, they should somehow incorporate media analysis into the course. Since students spend so much time involved with media sources, this should be an enjoyable task for them.

Finally, I agreed with Gladen’s point of view. She states, “media literacy courses can help develop basic skills” in our youth. Our educators can teach young children to read using the World Wide Web, and through that they learn to use the Internet for educational purposes. Additionally, media literacy may be taught in high school by assigning students to read scholarly on-line articles in order to complete class projects.

While only a few schools in the United States have begun teaching students about media literacy, this is certainly a mission worth pursuing. Educating students on how to evaluate media messages will benefit our society and our future.