Media literacy in School libraries.

media literacy in school libraries

what is media literacy?

according to Center for Media Literacy (http://www.medialit.org/), the definition is

"Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy."

i think this is a brief but very comprehensive definition of what media literacy is, but the application and practice of it in libraries, especially in school environments doesn't seem as clear and simple as it is in the definition.
as there're variety of forms of media people use today, there're equally as diverse views and conflicts media literacy or media education. it sounds almost like a chaos. Despite all the debates regarding media literacy, I think there's one thing for sure: children and young adults are active users of media or technology, and adults (especially parents)do not really have control over it.
given this reality and the huge impact that media can have on teens, media literacy education is critical and urgent. it goes beyond enhancing self-expression or vocational skills. it is about educating them to be a critical and mature consumer of media, through which they can build life-long academic, intellectual, and vocational foundation.
I understand all the worries about violence, sex, drug, crime, etc. no society is free of them, as it's a part of human life. there is no way of completely staying away from them, even indirectly, unless one lives without any sort of medium.

think how awful it is that pornography is the first 'tool' that many kids learn about sex. and they will form a very abnormal concept of sex. and think how much information floating around the internet is actually junk. today's kids use it without the ability to evaluate it. adults, parents and educators alike, can't just sit back and criticize the harmful effect of media. what's harmful is inaction or inability to work on it, say, media literacy.

Digital Divide

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

by Danah Boyd

After reading "Living and Learning with New Media", I digged in the issude of 'digital divide' and read an article by Danah Boyd, and the following if my reaction to some of the concerns.
D
anah boyd's article on american class division through facebook and myspace was pretty interesting. As i myself am pretty new to social networking site-'facebook' and have never explored 'myspace', i can't really compare those two in my own words, but i've heard a lot about how immature and un-cool 'myspace' is.
What impressed me was the nature of division- it wasn't just a simple age division between highschoolers and college students. as boys suggests, there is definitely a socio-economic class factor embedded in the division. college-going youth from mainstream middle American background who grew up under parents with higher education, and youth from working-class families who are likely to stay in working-class lifestyle including those who are in the military.
what 'myspace' and 'facebook' attracts two divergent groups of teens is beyond just look and interface of those sites. it seems to me that it's a sense of being with like-mind or like-class peers.
being in a specific sns represents their class, status, ideas, future, etc.
well, i'm not sure if it's something really to lament over, as it has always happened in offline. the division of sns users is a continued pattern and reflection of the reality.
We, human being, are social animals, but honestly we don't socialize just with 'anybody'.
consciously or unconsciously, we 'deliberately' choose everything based on some sort of standards that we set as our status or identity. it can be applied to almost everything we choose- neighborhood, school, commercial brands, food, gym, friends, spouse, bars, work, etc.

What concerns me personally about the 'digital divide' is not who uses 'myspace' or who uses 'facebook'. I'm glad that at least both groups have access and knowledge to manipulate the user-oriented and participatory aspects of 'web 2.0'.
What i'm concerned about digital divide is the division between thosevwho have resources to use it and those who don't in the first place.
For many of us (living in a big city with corresponding lifestyles), having access and knowledge for the internet, web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0, etc, is taken for granted. But there're still a lot of people out there who don't or can't have this for themselves and for their children. i think this is troublesome.
and as an aspiring library media specialist, i think this make technology educatoin and digital/media literacy much more crucial than before. if left unattended and neglected, this divide will only grow further and eventually there'll be a great deal of individual and social costs as a result.

Social Networking Among Teens

"Living and Learning with New Media: digital Youth Project" and "Talk to Teens" assignment gave me valuable insights on how teens today use social network, video sharing sites, online games, and gadgets like iPods and cellphones. The researchers' finding was pretty interesting in that teens use online networks to extend the friendships via instant messaging, cellphones and social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace, while adults tend to use those for networking purposes on top of friendship.
The teens that I talked to for "Talk to Teen" assignment also mentioned that their whole school is on Facebook, so if they don't use it, they're pretty much disconnected from their peers. As the researchers found out, the majority of youth use new media to stay connected and extend existing friendships.
Today's Teens are so called "Digital Natives", and their use of new media is no longer a surprise. In teaching and working with these teens, adults - parents, public and school librarians- will need to shift their focus from concerns to building and creating positive educational opportunities.

I understand that many adults are worried about wasting time online, texting, and also negative contents on the net -violence, sex, drug, crime, etc. No society is free of them, and technology will keep advancing and advancing, influencing how teens and also adults communicate among themselves.
Adults can't just sit back and criticize the harmful effect of new media. What's harmful is inaction or inability to work on it, say, media literacy.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row

This book was extremely powerful. It was not only because it was a story about teenagers on a death row, but also the voices of the teenagers. They weren't asking for forgiveness, but for the people to listen to their stories and hearts.
It shows the life of teenagers tried as adults and put on death row or life in prison without parole. Through the author's successful research and interview, we get to know these teens and how their lives are behind bars. I found the conversations from victim's families very thoughtful and let get their perspective as well.
After reading this book i got particularly interested in the status of death penalty for juvenile offenders in the U.S. and world wide. The following is some of the foundings.

According to Juvenile Justice Center (http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~rm273001/Juvenile.pdf),
the death penalty for juvenile offenders is becoming a uniquely American practice, in that it has been abandoned legally by most nations due to the express provisions of the United National Convention on the Rights of the Child and of several other international treaties and agreements.

Since 2000, only five countries in the world are known to have executed juvenile offenders: China, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iran, Pakistan, and the United States. Pakistan and China have abolished the juvenile death penalty, but there have been problems in nationwide compliance with the law.

It's lamentable that the United States is truly the only western industrialized nation who still practices juvenile execution, and it is time that the U.S. reviewed constitutionality and decency of the system.

Street Literature

Today's presentation about Street Literature gave me great introduction of definition, issues and balancing ideas. It also reminded me of my childhood and teen years where Manga culture was such a big part of reading and fun.
Kids and teens in countries like Korea (where I grew up), and Japan, Manga means something much more than one genre of pleasure reading. We all grew up reading it years and years. If one kid buys a series, it was passed along to the entire class, and especially girls were spending a lot of time copying and drawing them and giving them away among themselves.
Manga was, indeed, a most dominant form of Street Lit over there. Despite it's strengths - easy and fun to read, teen- centered plots and themes- Manga was not always well received. Adults- parents and teachers- always had issues with thier children and students reading Manga, because they didn't think of it as one of of literature, and thought of it as dumb story telling book only for lazy and reluctant readers. Often times, we had to hide them from adults and read them in secret.
That attitude made us feel quilty about reading mangas, and overall made us feel like we're losers as readers.
Having experienced that, it's very touching to see how well the genre is received in the US as one of the most popular reading materials. I think that's possibly what is happening with Street Literature.
Despite some reasonable criticism- lack of literary strengths, description of violence, crime, and stereotypes- Street Lit. deserves to be paid attention, especially if that helps children and teens develop joy of reading. Its counter-culture like and off-maintream nature is also a great outlet for those underrepresented and also those who find pleasure in those contents. Having witnessed how Manga has evolved and settled as a favored genre, I'm looking forward to the future of Street Lit.

Body Drama

Reading Body Drama reminded me of how self conscious I was as a teen about how I looked.
Often times, dealing with my own body was a big part of establishing identity. Think I always wished I had looked better and always adored other girls who I thought much better looking that I was. That complex went beyond just body, and the whole fashion thing, and worrying about what to wear, and how I'd look was such a big deal. Because those stuff were translated into how confident I was about myself.

Surprisingly or not too surprisingly, this angst still continues... I guess it's an universal human thing. I still struggle with my acne problems. I still wish I were taller, better looking, or even thinner! And have problems with some parts of my body.... I admit that I feel this way more so, as I get older. ): A few years back, I starved myself to weigh as light as 93 pounds, and gained back to my normal weights.... but it's tempting to be like that again. Thankfully, I try to gain it though workout now.

I understand that bottom line, there is issue of insecurity when it comes to obsession with body.
Constantly comparing ourselves to others, and trying to keep up with latest fashion or trends....
We, especially women are consuming by that. And I see that happening to men too.
It'll be extremely important to be able to accept and feel happy about who we are and what we look like, because eventually every one of us is different and unique.

the Wire

Reading Grace After Midnight really reconnected me with the TV show that I had so much fun watching a few months ago. The show was literally a documentary in a fictional format.
Every character in the show was based on real or very probable figures in the actual area" West Baltimore, and had something to tell us about their lives: drugs, gangs, poverty, crime, street culture, schools, police department, local politicians, and the community itself.

Snoop was especially impressive not just because of the cold-hearted and cold-blooded character, but also the real person behind, Felicia Pearson. Her real life isn't too much different from that of Snoop.
Instead of attending school, Felicia was a drug dealer and at a very young age, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to eight years in prison. While in prison, she got her GED and was released. Trying to re-start a new life, she struggled with prejudice based on her criminal records.
Very luckily and dramatically she starts the acting job through a character in the show, Omar.
By watching Snoob, we can easily identify her with the real person, and what the little girl went through. Snoob's presense did add more reality to the show, and makes us feel happy for her new life. Too bad to hear that she got imprisoned again recently for drub possession. Hopfully she can continue to use her life experience and lesson in giving positive influence to many youths today who're following the dark path.