In this guest post, author and media literacy expert Tina L. Peterson, Ph.D., demonstrates how media literacy skills can help readers think deeply about diversity in books.
When I was a kid, I rarely paid attention to the ethnicities of characters in my favorite books. I probably assumed that, because I related to them, they were like me – white, suburban, and middle class. Despite the fact that many of my classmates and close friends were Latino and Asian, it didn’t occur to me that the characters in most books I read didn’t represent the mix of people in my life.
It was only when I got hooked on The Baby-Sitters Club series that I began to notice book characters’ ethnicities. Author Ann M. Martin incorporated characters of color in a way that gave each person a voice, rather than making non-white characters part of the backdrop to a white protagonist’s experience. The character Jessi Ramsey felt like my first black friend.
As I grew up I began reading in a more critical way, and questioning the stories and characters I encountered. In college I learned that the skills I was developing had a name: media literacy. This type of literacy can encourage young people to think about the representations they see in books, and identify perspectives that are emphasized as well as those that may be missing. It can help young readers (and the adults who guide them) appreciate the value of diversity in children’s literature.
Media literacy is an approach to education that encourages active reading/viewing and critical evaluation of media messages of all types including books, TV shows, video games, movies, music, and social media. Three of the five key questions of media literacy can guide discussions of children’s books:
Who created this message?
All too often, an author is just a name on a cover, and readers don’t think about the people who write the stories they enjoy. Encouraging young people to learn about their favorite authors can help them understand whose perspectives they are seeing. How many are black, or Latino, or Asian? How many are men, and how many are women?
This discussion doesn’t have to lead to tokenism in a reading list, but rather to an awareness of who tells the stories they enjoy. It’s also useful for children to learn that they can relate to an author who might seem different from them.
What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
The answer to this question varies widely in books for children as well as adults. For example, the points of view represented in a Nancy Drew novel (white, female, affluent) are in stark contrast to those in one of Matt de la Peña’s books (Latino, male, working class).
Encouraging students to identify perspectives that are emphasized or missing from the books they read can help them expand their horizons and imagine other world-views. In addition, seeking out books that include points of view they don’t usually encounter can cultivate empathy.
How might different people understand this message differently from me?
As Hamlet suggests to Horatio, ‘there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ Young readers should be encouraged to share with their peers the meanings they make of books, and the knowledge that informs those meanings.
Many may be surprised that another’s interpretation differs from their own. A book that incorporates Spanish or Arabic words may be understood differently by a child who speaks one of those languages at home. A black child who has heard about racial discrimination or experienced it firsthand might read a story about Rosa Parks differently than a white child would.
Media literacy education encourages critical reading and consideration of diverse points of view. It’s a productive and useful approach given the increasingly global everyday culture of the 21st century, when young people may encounter difference in their peers more than any generation did before them. Media literacy and intentional diversity in children’s literature can ensure that difference is treated as an opportunity for learning.
Tina L. Peterson, Ph.D. is the author of Oscar and the Amazing Gravity Repellent (Capstone) and serves on the leadership council of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. More information is available at tinalpeterson.com
Our students represent a lucrative target audience. Companies bombard them daily with ads through every possible venue, so much so that most advertising is now an integral, barely noticed part of the American landscape.
And there's the rub. Barely noticed, yet there, exerting a powerful influence on how children choose to buy, think, and act.
In previous posts I've discussed
persuasive writing (
Convince Me: Real-Life Uses for Persuasive Writing and
So What’s Your Point? Persuasive Writing Using Picture Books) as well as
financial literacy (
Dollars and Sense for Students). Now Scholastic has teamed up with the Federal Trade Commission to combine these two ideas, plus the concept of
media literacy, to produce the
Admongo site and its
related teacher resources.
The FTC site explains that
Advertising is a multi-million dollar business. Truthful advertising provides benefits to consumers and competition. It gives consumers the information they need to make better-informed purchasing and product use decisions. It also gives companies an incentive to modify their products to provide features that customers want. By contrast, false advertising interferes with decision-making and hinders competition.
Tweens have their own money to spend, and parents report that children play an important role in family buying decisions. Because kids are an important part of the marketplace, they often are the targets of advertising and marketing programs. The result is that American kids see ads wherever they go.
The four components of the campaign (a
game-based website at Admongo.gov,
sample ads that can be used in the classroom; a
free curriculum, and teacher training videos) are designed to help students learn to ask three key "critical thinking" questions when they encounter advertising:
- Who is responsible for the ad?
- What is the ad actually saying?
- What does the ad want me to do?
While I personally used authentic ads that children know (and strangely love), I appreciate that this program offers fictitious yet genuine-looking ads and videos for classroom discussion. The advantage to the fake ads is that children can't assume they know the product
Today's Ypulse Interview is with D.C. Vito, Executive Director for The LAMP. An organization after our own heart, the LAMP [the Learning About Multimedia Project] is a Brooklyn-based non-profit dedicated to addressing the lack of media literacy in... Read the rest of this post
A spoonful of satire helps the newscast go down (recent polls show more Americans prefer to tune into Stewart and Colbert than traditional anchors. Motivating young people to stay well informed? I'd say that's good news) (AdWeek)
- YouTube EDU (a... Read the rest of this post
Now that I’ve gotten my dramatic title out of the way, let me back-peddle a little! I personally have nothing against Uggs…I keep hearing how “practical” they are. However, the sheer amount of young girls and women (and occasionally men) who wear these boots absolutely blows my mind, considering they cost approximately $200 a pair! That is one costly trend, and Uggs are just one example of many expensive fashion pieces that seem so popular with young adults these days.
How do teens afford to buy these costly fashion “must-haves”? Many of today’s young adults have an unprecedented amount of disposable income. Whether through generous allowances or money earned at part-time jobs, many teens are able to afford, and choose to spend their money on luxury items like clothing, electronics and music. Teens also have a strong influence over the spending that occurs within households. Marketer Gene DelVecchio, author of Creating Evercool: A Marketer’s Guide to a Kids Heart, estimates that kids and teens influence up to 70% of household purchases. The marketing agencies have caught on to this little fact and now teens are commonly the prime target of billions of dollars worth of advertising.
The teen years are quite often full of insecurities and self-doubt, and corporations capitalize on these feelings by making teens feel that they need their products to be “cool”. Teens are not passive consumers though. During our discussion on the “advertising, branding and marketing of and to teens” in week 6, we talked about how some companies hire “cool hunters” or “cultural spies” to infiltrate the world of teens and bring back the latest trends to the corporate boardroom. In No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, author Naomi Klein points out that the quest for cool has become all-consuming but by nature is riddled with self-doubt – you can hear the legions of teen shoppers nervously quizzing each other about whether products are cool or lame. There seems to be a fine balance between what teens find “cool” and when something becomes “too mainstream”. I wonder if and when Uggs will ever topple…
All the negativity aside, fashion can be fun! It’s a great way for teens to be creative and to express themselves. I can remember feeling so “cool” with my Hypercolour t-shirt (that stopped changing colours once washed), and my jelly shoes that were all the rage! Libraries can be a great place for teens to have fun with fashion, foster creativity, gain skills, and save a little money. For instance, at the York Woods Branch of the Toronto Public Library, they recently had a special event for teens to showcase their homemade clothing: “We Made It and We’re Proud of IT” – Fashion and Talent Show. Also on The Toronto Public Library’s teen website, RAMP, http://ramp.torontopubliclibrary.ca/, there is an invitation for teens to submit their own fashion designs.
I think this is a great way to bring teens into the library and introduce media literacy, teach basic sewing skills, or just gab about fashion. It seems as though fashion is a popular topic to discuss. While perusing the web, I came across countless blogs for young women that discuss the latest in, “what’s hot” and “what’s not” in the fashion world. The Winnipeg Public Library links teens to “Miss Couturable”, a nominee for the best teen blog in 2008, http://www.misscouturable.com/. I even discovered that Facebook is in on the action and I found that groups have formed around whether or not you are for or against the Uggs trend! The “I don’t care how comfortable Uggs are, you look like a dumbass” group has over 4200 members, while the “F**k You! I LOVE my Uggs!” group boasts over 7000 members!
Whether we like it or not, it seems that teen-targeted branding is here to stay – but instead of complaining about the latest fads, it’s nice to see that some people (and some libraries) are trying to embrace the creative faculties of teenagers by giving them a positive outlet for their fashionable urges!
REFERENCES
Klein, Naomi (2000). No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Toronto: Vintage Canada.
La Ferla, Ruth (2008, July 15). It’s a Gossip Girl thing; the tv show’s fashions are a must-get for teens. The Hamilton Spectator, pg. G09
Media Awareness Network (2008). Special issues for teens and tweens. Retrieved November 28, 2008, from http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm
FURTHER READING
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/3534631/Are-these-the-Ugg-liest-boots-in-the-world.html
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/4494.asp
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Fashion/Tweenage-idols/2005/05/20/1116533535958.html
http://youthdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/marketing_to_kids_and_teens
Posted in Library Programs, media literacy
Back in high school, I and a small group of girls marched down to the principal’s office and demanded the right to wear pants. Prior to that impromptu meeting, all female students were required to wear dresses to school.
Looking back on that episode, I recognize that it was an era in which young people were steeped in media images of activism: students were protesting the Vietnam War; African-Americans were marching for their civil rights under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King; women were burning their bras in gestures of solidarity with Gloria Steinham and other feminists who insisted that women deserved equality under the law.
Surrounded by these images, is it any wonder why we were inspired and emboldened to challenge the authority in our own small corner of the world? Not only did we confront the school’s authority, but we won the right to dress as we pleased. Within months, both male and female students were wearing faded jean bell-bottoms complete with rips and fraying hems.
Fast forward to this week—ironically, the week of Gloria Steinham’s birthday and an era when feminism is considered by many to be an f-word.
Apparently, a furor has erupted over the online game Miss Bimbo. Aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16, players start with a naked virtual character and then, compete for “bimbo dollars” to give their virtual dolls facelifts, breast implants and a regime of diet pills to keep their weight in check. For instance, breast implants sell at 11,500 bimbo dollars and net the buyer 2000 bimbo attitudes; thus, making her more popular. In a game where the aim is to be the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the world, bagging a billionaire boyfriend becomes the pinnacle of success. In France, the game has 1.2 million subscribers only a year after its launch. A month after the site opened in Britain, it had attracted over 200,000 members.
When questioned about the game on Canada AM this week, Merryl Bear, Director of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre in Toronto, made the comment that Miss Bimbo was just an extreme example of the kind of image which we see in the media all the time. Rather than ban the game, she suggested that it should be used as a teaching tool and stated that there was a need to teach media literacy to young people. This comment echoes that of Amy Jussel, the Executive Director of Shaping Youth, who wrote in her blog that it should be used to “open new dialogue on new ways to counter-market this crud” and that she plans to use it “to get people brainstorming on how to teach critical thinking skills.”
They make a good point. I can’t help but wonder whether my teenage self would have been able to hear the messages of King and Steinham had they been trying to communicate through the din of today’s media.
In fact, I would suggest that a challenge for public libraries, and specifically for those of us in the FIMS program, is to empower today’s youth through media literacy so they, too, will be inspired to make an active difference in the world.
“Miss Bimbo website promotes extreme diets and surgery to 9-year-olds” TimesOnline
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3613881.ece
“Bimbo Bait: Is Silence or Outrage the Solution for Digital Drek?” Shaping Youth Blog
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=1280
We know it’s hard to gauge a student’s reaction and comprehension after reading a book. And book reports, while useful for you, can be boring and frustrating for the student. That’s why we created our handy book report form (opens PDF). It’s a simple handout, with areas for students to fill in the information they need to show that they understood a book. But with its fun design and clear areas for information, it doesn’t feel like an assignment.
Try it out in your classroom, library, or home, and let us know what you think! If the student agrees, send us a copy of any book report on one of our books—we love to hear what kids think, too.
For a great final project, you can combine the book report form and the blank graphic novel page we’ve created. Ask the student to read a graphic novel, write a book report on it, and then draw a graphic novel page of their own, using our create-your-own-graphic-novel page (opens PDF).
If you can help with the following request, please contact Sarah directly. Thanks!
“I am curious if anyone knows of research (informal and formal) going on with undergraduates and media literacy. I’d like to hear about projects that look at usability and interface design and also any projects that measure visual or media literacy competencies. If you know of any relevant projects, contact Sarah Bordac, Instruction & Outreach Librarian @ Brown University and LIS doctoral student at Simmons College.”
media literacy
Not such a crazy idea anymore!
In an editorial today, the New York Times championed something that’s very near and dear to our hearts: Comic books in the classroom. Buoyed by a recent article about the Comic Book Project and the Maryland Comics in the Classroom initiative, the editorial posits that comic books (and by extension, graphic novels) have an important place in education. In fact, the editorial states, “The pairing of visual and written plotlines that [comic books] rely on appear to be especially helpful to struggling readers.” We’ve been saying this since our first graphic novels hit shelves in Spring 2006, so it’s nice of the Times to catch up! We’ve got a make-your-own-graphic-novel page (opens PDF) that students love, which is a great supplement to any of our graphic novels and a fabulous learning tool for the classroom.
There are sure to be many more articles like the two in the Times--here's to getting kids to read with the kinds of books they love.
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Great post Adrienne and cute title…loooove it! I find it interesting that young adults have so much money to spend. Although, I have to keep in mind that many parents are willing to pay for these Uggs and other opulent purchases. I remember that Muchmusic and Mastercard formed a partnership so that teens who could not obtain a credit card could do so independently by loading up the Mastercard, like we load our photocopy cards. Check out the link.
http://www.muchmusic.com/muchmusiccard/teen.asp
I love the tag line, “Free Yourself!”
Thanks Sylvia…I couldn’t resist the play on words. So, I checked out the Muchmusic link and I have to say that I find it shocking. There is an instructional section for those aged 13+ on how they can obtain a Mastercard! Seems wrong to me. I can remember during my undergrad, there would be representatives from Mastercard outside of bars getting students (who were more than likely intoxicated at the time) to sign up for a credit card in exchange for a CD. I know a few of my friends got into financial trouble that way because they really nail you with outrageous interest charges.
Great post- I know I always get surprised by how many younger girls I see wearing Uggs (esp. considering the cost)-However, one thing that came up earlier in the term (maybe in the merchants of cool week?) was the fact that teens because they have limited financial responsiblities– most live at home, so there is no rent, utilities etc. to have to pay for– they have almost exclusively disposable income (bascially every cent they earn can be spent on a whim). Thinking back to when I was in that position, I know it is a fact, and I can remember me and my friend(s) driving an hour to Burlington/Hamilton or Mississauga to go to a “better” mall, and not even be phased by going on a spending spree and blowing hundreds of dollars in an evening (boy I kinda miss those days in a way lol). So, thankfully I have matured and am not a teen anymore, otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d be along with the rest of them owning and wearing Uggs (but I must say that I was never really driven or pressured by trends- or maybe I was oblivious to them…..?????