Over the last decade, young people have begun spending drastically more time engaging with media, particularly digital media. This often exposes them to content and influences far beyond their maturity levels. The messages, images and information they engage with every day through media help shape their beliefs, attitudes, values, and identity.
That’s why it’s so important to empower young people with the skills to recognize the shaping effects of media. Teaching media literacy in skills-based health education can do just that.
What Is Media Literacy?
Media literacy is the ability to:
- Decode media messages and the systems in which they exist;
- Assess the influence of those messages on your thoughts, feelings and behaviors; and
- Create media thoughtfully and conscientiously.
While media and technology evolve and change, the skills students develop through media literacy education last a lifetime. Digital wellness education addresses the physical and emotional health impacts of media use, with attention to helping develop the conscious, balanced use of media that aligns with an individual’s goals for their health and well-being.
The Role of Media Literacy in Health Education
We all want young people to develop the critical thinking skills needed to navigate today’s complex media environment. Media messages shape young people’s perceptions — whether negative or positive — about body image, healthy eating, gender and racial stereotypes, self-esteem, substance abuse, healthy relationships, and other public health issues.
The rise of the internet and social media has expanded our access to information, including false and misleading information. There is growing awareness and guidance on the use of social media and its impacts on young people’s mental health and safety.
Consider the following:
- Up to 95% of young people aged 13-17 report using a social media platform; and
- Nearly two-thirds of teenagers report using social media every day while one third report using social media “almost constantly.”
We need to make sure that young people are able to navigate their online experiences in a safe and productive way, and that’s where media literacy education comes in. The new SHAPE America National Health Education Standards incorporate media literacy in new places — including introducing the concept of digital wellness in Standard 7, adding the need to analyze digital influences on health and well-being in Standard 2, and the focus on critical thinking around media messages and resources in Standard 3.
These skills are ones that students can use throughout their lives, even as the media landscape continues to evolve. With changes developing in the National Health Education Standards and at the state and local level, there is growing opportunity for health educators to increase their comfort and knowledge around media use and how it affects young people’s health and well-being.
3 Tips for Incorporating Media Literacy Into Your Health Education Curriculum
There are a lot of natural connections between media literacy and the seven health skills that are emphasized throughout the National Health Education Standards. As noted, students are using social media regularly — and it’s important to teach them how to use it safely.
When considering the definition of media literacy above, it’s easy to see a lot of connections to skills-based health education. Here are some tips for teaching media literacy in your classes:
- Get familiar with media literacy. While we have shared a brief definition of what media literacy is above, it’s important to get a better idea of what media literacy includes. Check out the expanded definition of media literacy from the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), as well as these key questions (also from NAMLE) that can be used to analyze media experiences.
- Consider starting off the school year with a media literacy focus. Media impacts all of us all the time. You will probably have lessons or activities that incorporate using some form of media. Start the school year with a few lessons that focus on media literacy and digital citizenship.
- Common Sense Media has activities and lessons for grades K-12 on a variety of topics.
- Learn more about how to make classroom safer when using technology in the classroom.
- Look for opportunities in your existing curriculum to add media literacy. A part of media literacy is being able to analyze messages from media and being able to identify reliable sources of health information. These are essential parts of skills-based health education. There might be opportunities within your curriculum that have a natural fit.
- Check out some of the lessons from the Center of Digital Thriving, including the lesson on technology and values that has alignment to Standard 2: Analyze influences that affect health and well-being of self and others. Students look at various values and examine how they are positively or negatively impacted by technology.
Getting Media Literacy Into More Classrooms
While SHAPE America is leading the way to incorporate media literacy education into health instruction, there’s still more to be done to make sure all K-12 students have access to media literacy education. At Media Literacy Now, the belief is that media literacy education belongs in every classroom. The responsibility does not fall on one subject area. And, while Media Literacy Now aims to drive policy change to remove barriers, change can often occur within individual classrooms, schools and communities. To learn how to help move media literacy education forward, visit the Take Action page.
Additional Resources
- SHAPE America National Health Education Standards
- Media Literacy Now Educator Resources
- Media Literacy Now’s Digital Wellness Work
- The Critical Role of Media Literacy in Health Education: A Research and Evidence Review
Erin McNeill
Erin McNeill is founder and CEO of Media Literacy Now, a national education policy initiative to create a public education system that ensures all students learn the 21st century media literacy skills they need for health, well-being, economic participation, and citizenship. Media Literacy Now supports advocates, educators and policymakers.
Michelle Carter
Michelle Carter is director of educational content and programs at SHAPE America. She is a former health and physical educator for District of Columbia Public Schools. Follow her on Twitter @HPEmichelle or email her at mcarter@shapeamerica.org
