What is media literacy? Media literacy refers to the ability to access, use, understand and create media. When we use the term ‘media’, this includes large scale communications – such as current affairs, social media etc. Media literacy draws on literacy skills, such as critical thinking and analysis, applying them to media to grapple with different kinds of content. Building children’s media literacy skills develops their understanding of the news and other information they see, hear, or read – whether it's on TV, online, in a newspaper, or on social media. It's about supporting them to ask questions, think carefully, and decide what content to trust. Everyone can have media literacy skills. At its core is critical thinking - something we can all practise, especially in today’s digital world. Why is media literacy important for children? Children come across lots of messages every day. Some are true, some are opinions, and some might be misleading. Ofcom found that 9 in 10 children own a mobile phone by the age of 11. It also determined that 64% of children aged 3 – 17 use apps for social media. It is this digital exposure in particular that makes media literacy extra important. Having strong media literacy skills helps children: Tell the difference between facts and opinions.Ask relevant questions to find out more.Understand different points of view.Stay safe and smart online.Share their own ideas confidently. What role can we play at home to support media literacy? For many children, home is often where they venture online – perhaps after school, on weekends, or during the school holidays. Whilst we can develop critical thinking skills in school, working on these abilities at home is also useful, so that children can critically engage with the many types of content they discover. At home, ensure children know they can go to you with concerns or questions about the content they find online, so that you can navigate various messaging together, for productive learning and confidence building. Parents, guardians and wider families can create safe spaces and promote awareness of misinformation and being ‘media savvy’. Keep reading for our top tips! Top tips for supporting children’s media skills at home Chat about the news Ask your child what they've heard in the news. What do they think? What questions do they have? Making the news part of your regular conversations can support children to feel comfortable with raising questions, concerns or ideas with you about types of content. Look at news together Regularly exploring media content can build children’s confidence and familiarity with it. Explore different news sources. Talk about the pictures and headlines – do they tell the full story? Help children identify common components of media content – a catchy hook, opinions, facts, quotes, images etc. Encourage curiosity So much can be learned from thinking deeply about online content. Some key evaluation points to work through with children include: Who made this? Why did they make it? Can we trust it? Developing questioning can support critical thinking skills, useful to analyse various types of media. Talk about facts and opinions Help your child spot what's a fact (something true) and what's someone's opinion (what they think or feel). Sometimes, content can present opinions as facts, and facts as opinions. Together, analyse pieces of content to determine the differences. Think about the purpose Encourage children to consider the motivations behind a piece of content, whether it’s a TikTok video or newspaper article. Key things to reflect on: Is the information trying to inform, entertain, sell something, or persuade us? Share your values Talk about what matters to your family and how to treat others with kindness and respect – even when people have different views. This can help embed important messages and values that your child can uphold, helping them to respect others as they venture online. Be a role model Show your child how you check information or talk about news in a thoughtful way. Do you make news a regular part of your day-to-day life? How do you source your news? How do you deal with the news when things are tough or unsettling? Share these ideas together. Foster a safe space to communicate and confide The online world can be overwhelming – you can never ‘complete’ a TikTok scroll! To combat the effects of scrolling online and the abundance of content to be found, ensure your home environment remains a supportive space, where children feel able to voice any concerns about content they’ve seen online, so that you can work through it together. Ultimately, as parents and educators, we can support children with accessing media, so that is appropriate and beneficial. We can guide them to apply critical thinking skills, to carefully select what they choose to read, listen to and watch, what they recognise as fact, and to help them make positive contributions to the world, both on and off-line. If you’re a school, explore the latest Picture News resource (we’ll send over a free pack to try)! Within each pack you’ll find a media literacy resource drawing on four key skills, along with open questions to get children thinking about the world around them.
