The Illiterate Literati

     I can't believe how long it's been since I actually posted a blog. I used to be pretty regular with them, but, then, life. . .

     But now, it seems necessary.
     
     At the Garden State Scholastic Press Association Spring Advisors Conference, I led a table of teachers and librarians in a discussion of media literacy. Specifically, we talked about how to teach Middle School students the difference between fact and fiction in their daily lives.

     As I write that, it feels very odd. When I was in Middle School -- ok, Junior High in those days when the lava had just cooled -- we knew what was in the Newark Evening News and the Netcong-Stanhope  News and what was on Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley was what actually happened. Propaganda was what the sultry Korean voice talked about on M*A*S*H. There was no propaganda on the homefront. 

     Unless, you count advertising. The Marlboro Man was trying to convince us smoking was sexy. But that was paid for by the tobacco companies and was pretty obvious. 

     Today, adolescents have too much information coming at them from every direction. 

     There are curricula addressing media literacy, but schools don't have the time to do a full semester, so we were looking for solutions that could be incorporated into a standard curriculum. 

     Students need to learn the definition of a primary source and the importance of always seeking that primary source when confronted by any piece of information. They need to learn that social media is a dangerous playground.  

     It's not just kids who repost things without checking. It's more embarrassing when adults do it. 

     The bottom line is never post anything that doesn't indicate where it comes from. That seems to be a no-brainer, but, I'm finding it is. Never post anything from a source you don't recognize as a reputable news source. Never post anything from a blatantly partizan source. Especially when it's partizan leaning toward the way you lean, because you are less likely to hold any objectivity. 

     Reinforcing your own and others' prejudices is the most dangerous part of the this dangerous game. 

     I will periodically blog about other topics we addressed at GSSPA and during other media literacy conversations.