Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency. Neither the European Union nor National Agency can be held responsible for them.
ABOUT

“Just as we teach our children how to ride a bike, we need to teach them how to navigate social media and make the right moves that will help them. They physical world is similar to the virtual world in many cases. It’s about being aware. We can prevent many debacles if we’re educated”

- Amy Jo Martin

While Generation Alpha (those born after 2010) are more familiar with digital marketing content, familiarity does not necessarily translate into an understanding of persuasive intent. Evidence suggests children remain vulnerable to the harms of the internet, and as they mature into teenagers are still susceptible to the appeal of advertising and fake news. Although children’s persuasion knowledge inevitably increases, the nature and form of the commercial messages also becomes more sophisticated, stealthy and covert, thus developing the requisite cognitive competencies and defences in children remains challenging. The COVID19 pandemic has resulted in increased usage of digital media for all age cohorts in society, further underlining the need for children to acquire multiple media literacies.

Therefore, Minding Media, has been carefully designed to meet the needs of primary school educators and their pupils, and is also aligned with partner needs, all of whom are educational providers. Our project responds to our common desire to increase the advertising literacy of children and wider society. By working collaboratively, we have built on our individual experiences of media literacy and combined several specialist expertise in digital pedagogy and gamification to develop a unique set of resources.

For children and young people, the project responds to their direct need for critical media skills in the face of a digitizing society. Between the ages of 8 and 12 is a key development stage in children’s understanding of the persuasive intent of commercial messages. Children are capable of critically appraising message content; however, enjoyment of advertisements depreciates the motivation to activate message resistance strategies. Minding Media understands that multiple media literacies, including advertising literacy, must be promoted, as they empower children to critically evaluate media messages and make informed choices.

Project Partners

© 2024 Minding Media. All rights reserved.
menuchevron-down