Investing in Young People through Media Literacy

Abstract

This article examines the crucial need to adequately prepare our young people for self and national development by instilling in them the requisite knowledge structures for reviewing, critiquing and packaging media products. This is predicated on the current media explosion which has thrown forward a flurry of media options that seem to drown the world with often conflicting information on a continuous basis. In the midst of this, there appears to be a great lack of understanding of the cultural, economic, political and technological constraints/influences on the creation and transmission of messages. Indeed many fail to understand media messages as constructed reality. This article, however, contends that media literacy needs not be seen as an attempt to turn the consuming public into media cynics. Rather, it is an empowerment skill for the public to be ‘sane’ consumers of media messages. It, therefore, recommends that media literacy be introduced in our school system beginning from the secondary level.