A discourse on child media literacy

Abstract

This paper discusses child media literacy in an exposé format. The media mould people’s perception about the world and their environment. They often times do not offer reality, but mere representations of reality. It therefore takes media literacy to understand the distinction between the media and the real world. Media audience members, though really active, are not necessarily knowledgeable of media realities vis-à-vis social realities. This is especially the case with children. Media content can directly and indirectly provide a guide for action for children. The various media effects on children are expressed either as undesirable or beneficial. The only way to help children explore their media world positively is to impact the media literacy skills in them. Being trained to be in charge of their own learning, children can employ the various media literacy skills they learn, to overall national development. This being the case, the need arises to equip children with the knowledge required to face the media literacy challenge. Poverty, non-integration into the school curriculum, poor project implementation, financial constraints, and lack of efficient teachers were identified as possible obstacles to child media literacy in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that parents, media professionals and ultimately the government should be ready to take proactive steps to ensure that the Nigerian child is media literate.

Keywords: Media literacy; child media literacy; digital literacy; media realities; social realities