Media are increasingly accessible at home and in public spaces providing different types of information and entertainment that attract young people everywhere. As a matter of fact, media have become an important part and parcel of the upbringing and socialization processes of all girls and boys and therefore need to be considered by parents, educators, and media professionals as seriously as formal education. Especially now more than ever before, with the COVID-19 crisis, dependence on media and technology has become a necessity to stay connected, updated and informed
Information providers, media in general and new media in particular are among the most important toolswhich affect cultural identities and information status of any society. While ever-flowing information, media and technologies offer more opportunities for youth’s education and sustainable development than challenges, the potential risks are also real for young people who are more vulnerable than others. With the current pandemic, the world is also suffering from, the almost equally dangerous, “infodemic”, where disinformation, hate speech and harmful content are rapidly flooding the online world. Despite major organizations mobilizing against this, the empowerment of youth and equipping them to critically deal with the media and information in general remains vital. This can be globally addressed through Media and Information literacy, which has become the tool to empower and protect children from the potential negative effects of the excessive use of media and other information sources or platforms. MIL helps children and youth to be more engaged with information and media while thinking critically of the information they receive. It further helps them to acquire digital and life skills to become active global citizens.
When discussing issues regarding democracy and development we often forget that a media literate citizenry is a precondition. An important prerequisite for the empowerment of citizens is a concerted effort to improve media and information literacy – skills that help to strengthen the critical abilities and communicative skills which enable the individuals to use the media and communication both as tools and as a way of articulating processes of development and social change, enabling people to influence their own lives by making them more in control of their media use. Media and information literacy is needed for all citizens, but is of decisive importance to the younger generation – in their role as citizens and their participation in the society, their learning, cultural expression and personal fulfillment. A fundamental element of the efforts to realize a media and information literate society is media education.
Media and information literacy has become a global trend and tool to upgrade the educational systems in different countries. It has become an important tool to encourage creativity and the feelings of loyalty, belonging and citizenship. It has also become an important mechanism for the democratic participation of citizens in general and youth in particular. It is a way to bring our young people and children from their bubbles in the virtual world to the real world. Furthermore, media and information literacy helps to empower young people to be active users of the media and not merely passive receivers. In brief, it helps to create an active audience which we may call “prosumers”, i.e., producers and consumers of media content at the same time. Media and information literate citizens can also discern “fake news” and “hate speech” which became very common especially on the new media platforms. Such abilities pave the road to better global understanding and result in having more “global citizens” who realize that they share more in common and interact with people from other races, religions and cultures.
It is recommended that developments in the educational system take into consideration the integration of MIL in the formal school system. It is another tool to reinvigorate the students’ feeling of belonging to their country, their environment and culture.
Students’ acquisition of MIL competencies facilitates intercultural dialogue and the development of mutual understanding, through passing on tradition and cultures in new ways and through recognizing new cultural practices. It also enables students to be more tolerant of the other, fostering intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. Nations never develop without critical and creative minds, and qualified teachers who can contribute to building and guiding students’ cognitive abilities by teaching them MIL competencies and skills.
MIL has been integrated in educational systems in several countries. In Canada for instance, it is a formal curriculum for all students from 6 till 18 years old. In Finland it is a cross-cutting curriculum in many subjects. In the USA and Britain it is integrated as an activity for students and the same applies to countries like India, the Philippines and some Asian countries. MIL has demonstrated success as a global tool for upgrading educational systems and empowering students
We live in world full of violence, complications and challenges, and unfortunately the media are full of fake news, hate speech and harmful content. The only way to tackle these problems is to have a better understanding of the other, countering the negative stereotypes that we have about one another. No doubt that media and information literacy can play an important role in this respect.