Preserving the Looking Glass

It is apparent media has such an enormous impact on today’s society; one can not seem to escape it. In Media Education Literacy, Learning and Contemporary Culture David Buckingham discusses how the role of media literacy is rapidly being infiltrated in the classrooms. He illustrates the complexities in trying to define media literacy and suggests it is not limited to “knowledge, skills, and competencies that are required to interpret media, rather “it also involves a much broader analytical understanding” (36,38). I find Buckingham's outline for analyzing media (as applied to film and television) to be particularly interesting in that he he adopts similar methods of deconstructing the text to the way in which an English class would analyze a novel. I understand there are some positive aspects in teaching media literacy to children at an early age, but I also am rather troubled and feel the need to posit the question, at what point is media literacy going to eventually take over and possibly replace invaluable classes in the academic curriculum such as, let's say... an English class?

Buckingham illustrates five different stages in which media literacy should be taught to students. I have to disagree with teaching media literacy to what he refers to as “stage one” . He propounds students at this level should begin to develop skills in being able to “identify and talk about different levels of “realism”, e.g. naturalistic drama vs. cartoon animation” (40). Stage one is designed for young students,(either presumably in preschool or kindergarten) who may have yet to obtain a full grasp of their “ABCs”. I think it is entirely inappropriate to bring media literacy into the classroom at such an early age. Young students have enough to worry about in regards to literacy, and by adding one more thing to the curriculum involving television could be detrimental in the acquirement of developing skills of reading and writing. It seems as technological advancements begin to increase, the desire for kids to sit down and read a book decreases.

Some of my most fondest memories of elementary school consist of looking forward to going to the school’s library. I had the ability to choose my own adventure while surrounding myself amongst fairies, pirates, and flowers who sang lullabies in exchange for my little library card. Story-time with the librarian was my favorite part of the day because it allowed me to escape into my own little world of fantasy, where it made no difference if the story was a product of realism or fantasy. In my own opinion, I think what Buckingham promotes, has the potential to destroy that fleeting magical state of childlike wonder which only lasts for a very short period of time. Furthermore, by promoting television and films in the classroom at such a young age hinders the chance for a child to utilize their imagination. Rather they are presented with images imposed upon them that sometimes cater to certain institutions, ultimately promoting ideologies and stereotypes. Of course, it is crucial to be aware of social messages certain films convey, just maybe at a more mature age. Call me old fashioned, but I say media literacy should be taught in high school classes. Let’s encourage children to engage in activities that promotes developing creativity through fantasy. Perhaps in doing so, it can prolong that special moment in time that slips away all too easily, and is eventually replaced with a sort of brutal cynicism that comes along with age and awareness of how the real world really operates.

Works Cited

Buckingham, David. Media Education: Literacy, Learning, and Contemporary Culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2003. Print.