Media Literacy

Privacy Please


You know where they are going and where they have been any time, day or night. You know what they thought was funny and what really made them mad this week. You know which new band they like and you have even seen a picture of some of their favorite meals this week. Hardly a day passes when you don’t get to see a picture of the hilarious things their pets and kids have gotten into. It’s hard to believe you can know someone so well when you haven’t even seen this “friend” since college! Social networks like Facebook and Twitter make it easy to connect to people and make the world seem like a really small place. This new way of connecting comes with it’s own set of benefits and problems.

Peekaboo, I C U !


You already have zero privacy. Get over it.
- Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems (1999)

On a recent morning, I spent some time cooling my heels in purgatory – or, in more secular terms – the doctor’s waiting room. Tired of leafing through multiple issues of The American Journal of Orthopedics, I unabashedly eavesdropped on a pair of women sitting beside me. One of the women was complaining about her teenage daughter, who had apparently been grumbling to her parents about the “major” lack of privacy in their house. “So what?” mused the woman’s companion. “That’s entirely normal at her age.” “Yes,” retorted the first woman, “but we found out she’d been posting pictures of herself in her underwear on Facebook!”

THINK Before you Buy: Media Literacy


Joann’s post about advertising was especially funny to me, the proud owner of both the Miracle Blade III knives and the complete set of ShamWOW towels. I really like as seen on TV stuff! Students and parents alike are barraged with advertisements in all forms of media throughout the day. An important part of media literacy we need to stress with our children is the ability to critically analyze the advertisements around them so they can make good purchasing decisions throughout their lives, instead of just buying the things with the flashiest ads.

Joann's companion column: 

Selling It


“You really need that,” my seven year-old announced one day, pointing at the TV. An infomercial for the Buxton Organizer, a “stylish genuine leather over-the-shoulder organizer,” shows an exasperated woman digging through her purse while her MIA cell phone frantically rings. “I already have a purse,” I replied, somewhat defensively. “But look at how much stuff it holds!” my daughter breathed, while the woman on the commercial stuffed a wallet, cell phone, two water bottles, an umbrella, and what looked like an entire cosmetics counter worth of makeup into her bag. “And it comes with a little message reminder thingie,” my daughter pressed. “You know how much you forget stuff!” A year later, while I still don’t have a Buxton Organizer, my daughter has not forgotten the commercial.

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