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TOP TEN MEDIA LITERACY WEBSITES

Editor's Note: In order to offer you as many resources as possible, The Guidance Channel does not list the sites highlighted in our feature article or interview in our Top Ten Websites - it goes without saying that we feel they belong here! Please be sure to check out those columns for additional websites offering exceptional resources.

Action For Media Education

AME, formerly known as the Foundation For Family Television, was developed in 1991 in response to a statewide survey by a University of Washington research team which found widespread dissatisfaction, frustration, and anger among Washington State's parents with the quality of television programming for their families. With the leadership of Jean Gardner, Washington's first lady, and wife of then Governor Booth Gardner, a group of parents, community leaders, educators, and professionals concerned with children's issues formed this organization as a vehicle for taking constructive action in their local communities.

The AME website has a two-tiered approach. First, it identifies quality programming for young people and their families. Information on such programs can then be incorporated into locally-designed press releases, flyers and/or newsletters developed to reach families. The second tier focuses on providing a variety of resource materials for parents and other community members who are concerned about the influence of television on our children. In the Just The Facts section of the website, you can access statistics on violence in the media, television and video game habits of today’s children, advertising directed at children, and more. The Critical Viewing section illustrates how you can develop your own media literacy and/or teach it to others. You’ll find a call-to action in the Do Something section, as it presents specific steps parents, teachers, children and other concerned adults can take to promote media literacy in their own local communities. This section even offers contact information for several major media organizations so you can share your concerns with them directly.

The Center For A New American Dream: Kids And Commercialism

The mission of this organization is to help Americans change the way they consume to improve quality of life, protect the natural environment, and promote social justice. They work with individuals, communities, institutions, and businesses to establish sustainable practices that will ensure a healthy planet for future generations. The organization’s Kids and Commercialism Campaign will help you learn more about the effect of advertising and marketing on kids and provides you with practical tips to deal with this growing problem.

The website’s section on the campaign offers hundreds of ways you can block commercialism targeting kids and support noncommercial activities and spaces for kids. In addition, the site includes many of the entries from a recent essay/art contest for young people 17 and under. Entrants were asked to create an essay or a piece of art titled: "What I Really Want That Money Can't Buy." Teachers can use this section of the site in the classroom as a springboard for discussion on commercialism and advertising. A downloadable brochure, entitled Tips For Parenting In A Commercial Culture, contains information and statistics about the harmful effects of excessive commercialism on kids and families, and steps parents can take to protect their children from the advertising that dominates our media. The brochure also explores how advertisers and marketers are extremely effective at using the "nag factor" to get kids to pressure their parents to buy products that are bad for them.

These are only a few of the many resources available through this website. Anyone interested in learning more about the impact of advertising on children should start here.

Center For Media Education

The Center for Media Education is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a quality electronic media culture for youth, their families and the community. CME's research focuses on the potential -- and the peril -- for children and youth of the rapidly evolving digital media age. Examining the issues and encouraging this emerging new media culture to move responsibly is CME's major thrust. Over the years, CME has been the leading force in expanding both children's educational television programming and fostering television and Internet safeguards for children and teens.

The site's Children and Media section includes reports covering a range of issues such as online advertising directed at children, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and how teens are at once shaping and being shaped by the digital landscape. The Handbook and Fact Sheets section offers information on the V-Chip, online privacy, and the impact of media violence on children. The Children's Television Act Tool Kit explains how the Act requires commercial broadcast stations to air at least 3 hours a week of educational and informational programming. To ensure that stations comply with the new rules, the Center encourages parents, educators, and child advocates to become actively involved in evaluating these programs and providing feedback to networks, local stations, and the FCC.

The Center For Media Literacy

The Center for Media Literacy is dedicated to a new vision of literacy for the 21st century: the ability to communicate competently in all media forms, print and electronic, as well as to access, understand, analyze and evaluate the powerful images, words and sounds that make up our contemporary mass media culture. The mission of the Center is to bring media literacy education to every child, every school and every home in North America. In order to do this, the Center for Media Literacy develops media literacy educational materials, conducts workshops and trainings, sponsors national conferences, and facilitates an alliance of organizations working to promote media literacy.

In the Reading Room section of the website, you will be able to access a collection of articles on topics such as violence and the media, children and television, and the media and body image. You can also subscribe to a free newsletter developed by the Center that covers media literacy news and reviews various media literacy resources. The site's list of links includes a section on websites specifically designed for teachers and students that educators may find especially helpful.

Children Now: Children And The Media

Children Now’s Children and The Media Program works to improve the quality of news and entertainment media both for children and about children’s issues, paying particular attention to media images of race, class, and gender. They strive to achieve these goals through media industry outreach, independent research, and public policy development.

Their website is filled with timely, in-depth reports on topics ranging from the how television news portrays today’s kids to how videogames are failing to offer racial or ethnic diversity. In Boys To Men: Media Messages About Masculinity they reveal how boys are exposed relentlessly to a narrow, confining picture of masculinity in America, one that reinforces anger and violence as the way to solve problems. In addition to these thought-provoking reports, the site offers a free newsletter designed to keep broadcast executives and parents informed of current research on media as it pertains to children. From the daily news feed to information on the latest trends in media policy, this site will keep you current on the key issues relating to media literacy.

Consumers Union: Selling America’s Kids

Consumer Reports for Kids (formerly Penny Power) have for years monitored TV advertising to kids and published articles on the subject. They commissioned this report to identify other types of commercial pressure on their readers, young people between the ages of 8 and 14. The report was prepared by Consumers Union's Education Services Division. It surveys trends in marketing directed to kids, and points to problems that should be addressed by parents, schools, and the government. Some of the advertising methods covered include in-school promotions, celebrity endorsements, kids clubs, product placements and advertorials. School administrators will find the list of recommendations at the conclusion of the report especially relevant when considering whether or not to allow advertising within the school environment.

Just Think

Just Think believes that putting media tools and thinking skills in the hands of young people is the most effective (and often only) method to develop awareness of the impact of media on youth. Through their programs, students and teachers are taught to understand media messages, master media and technology tools, express their ideas effectively, and engage positively with local and worldwide communities. Just Think has developed curricula and delivered media literacy education programs inschool, afterschool, and online in diverse communities locally, nationally, and internationally for the past six years.

The Resources section on the Just Think website includes lesson plans for teaching media literacy in age groups ranging from late elementary through high school. A TV Guide for Parents presents a collection of strategies for promoting literacy at home. The Links To Think section presents a comprehensive list of websites for parents, teachers and kids. You'll find links to media and technology curricula resources, media education tools in Spanish, and many other useful tools for the classroom.

The Media Awareness Network

The Media Awareness Network website is one of the largest educational websites in Canada. MNet's bilingual website (in English and French) provides information, teaching resources, community programs and discussion forums on a wide range of media topics -- from a uniquely Canadian perspective. This award-winning site covers news reporting, media ownership, advertising, the media's influences on behavior and choices, the protection of personal privacy, online marketing directed at children, authentication of online information, and more.

Visitors to the site are offered a plethora of resources for promoting literacy at home and in school. There are tip sheets, articles and other resources designed specifically to support parents and caregivers managing the media in the home and in childcare settings. Teachers will find copyright-cleared teaching units and student handouts on a wide range of media topics. There are also online discussion groups for teachers, students and parents. Although this site is based in Canada, educators and parents in the U.S. will be able to use almost all of the resources available through this well-organized and extensive website.

Media Literacy Clearinghouse

This clearinghouse was developed for K-12 educators who want to learn more about media literacy and integrate it into the classroom. Their collection of articles, background and lesson plans is divided into various categories relating to media literacy. Some of the topics covered include political advertising, commercialism, and propaganda. Teachers will find the section on assessment especially helpful.

Project Sharp: 12 Basic Principles For Incorporating Media Literacy Into Any Curriculum

This booklet is designed for teachers and support staff at all grade levels who are interested in using media literacy in their classroom curricula. The principles are based on the concept of weaving media literacy training into the curriculum whenever and wherever possible throughout the school year. The 12 principles are general guidelines for thinking about ways to integrate media literacy into any curricular area. For each principle, media literacy can be incorporated as illustration material, material to critique, and/or through media production by creating new messages using print, audio, video or digital media). With suggested activities included for each principle, this resource can serve as a useful tool to begin a media literacy program in any school.