We’re delighted to announce that Media Smart and our educational resources have been featured in the UK Government’s Online Media Literacy Strategy, which was announced in July. Our organisation is the only one included to focus on advertising literacy.
The UK Government’s strategy is intended to help young people spot online disinformation amid a wider effort to improve media literacy and make the internet safer for children. Focus areas will be data and privacy, the online environment; information consumption; online consequences, and online engagement.
The strategy’s objective is to support organisations to undertake media literacy activity in a more coordinated, wide-reaching, and high-quality way over the next three years.
The strategy will involve training teachers, library staff, youth workers, and carers to help young people critically analyse the content they consume. According toy the National Literacy Trust research, just 2% of children have developed sufficient critical-thinking skills to spot disinformation online.
We’re delighted to support this, alongside other incredible organisations, as a step to ensuring all young people are media literate. So please join our mission by using the latest resources on our website with the 7-16-year-olds in your life.
Did you know we have 11 FREE resources for educators, parents and guardians? Including lessons, films and guides on Advertising, Body Image, Social Media, Influencer Marketing, Piracy and Creative Careers. Here are a few of the latest ones available for you to download and share today.
Influencer marketing
For 11-14 yrs / Secondary school / Key stage 3
Media Smart’s latest resource is aimed at helping teens understand the commercial link between social influencers and the brands they may be promoting. The rising number of social influencers in young people’s lives has prompted us to create a film-based PSHE teaching resource, the first of its kind to tackle this area of marketing.
How to manage your online advert experience
For 11-16 yrs / Secondary school / Key stage 3
This new resource features an animated film and classroom materials to support pupil discussions around interest-based advertising, why it exists, and how young people can best manage it. Students may be surprised to learn that this sort of advertising funds many free platforms they use every day, from apps and websites to search engines.
Piracy: What’s the big deal?
For 11-14 yrs / Secondary school / Key stage 3
Did you know one in four over 12s have illegally downloaded film content in the last three months? That’s the highest rate of piracy in the UK in the previous five years. At Media Smart, we have teamed up with Sky, The Industry Trust, The Intellectual Property Office, and MPA to develop a new PSHE accredited secondary school resource to help young people understand piracy and IP infringement implications.
