According to UNESCO, around 67 million children around the world do not attend school.
Some have to work instead. Others do not have to do to school, but they are not very happy about it. If they do not go to school, they will never learn to read, write and count.
People who do not know this are »illiterate«, and life can be very difficult for them.
In recent years things have been getting more and more difficult for them. Due to the development of new technologies, being literate now means, in addition to reading, writing and doing math, that one also has the ability to master digital and media literacy.
Media literacy is a broad concept, which includes, for example, digital, information and visual literacy. It means the ability to make critical, creative and safe use of media and media content in all possible forms.
This is not so easy!
In the United Kingdom, they are now thinking about how to enable children to become media literate.
They though that technology companies, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, would now pay a special levy to the British government.
In their opinion, these companies do not do enough to protect their users from various online traps, such as fake news or one-sided political propaganda.
With the levy, the government would get money to pay teachers to instruct children how to access and evaluate different media and media content.
For now, this is still just an idea.
But by the winter British politicians will prepare a document in which they will better explain the measures needed. Then a debate will be follow if the proposal is thought to be good.
Points to Consider
- Which apps and social media are you using?
- Do you consider yourself media literate?
- Would you go to a media literacy workshop?
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The original version of this article was published on November 9th.
English translation courtesy of JL Flanner, Total Slovenia News, an English language website with news from and about Slovenia.