Media literacy is not witchcraft
Media accompany us throughout the day. Whether books, MP3 players, laptops or tablets - we adults use media in many situations. We inform ourselves and work with media, they make our lives easier and amuse us. Media are simply part of our lives. Yet we rarely stop to think about our media behaviour. This changes when we become parents and a little one is watching us intently. We parents are role models. Media role models too. Naturally, parents want the best for their child. They want them to develop well, learn and be happy. Their world should be characterised by real things, not by media. You often hear this argument.
There are times in a child's everyday life that should be media-free.
But media are a completely normal part of our world. There is no world in which children live without media. But there are times in a child's everyday life that should be media-free. The younger the child, the more important primary experiences are: stacking blocks, digging in the sand, stroking the neighbour's cat. And children learn best when they have real-life role models from whom they can learn things and who are contact persons for them. Even the most pedagogically valuable app cannot compete with primary experiences. This is why no preschool child is harmed if they have had little or no experience with electronic media.
However, as a child's world is constantly expanding when they start school, parents should not miss out on gradually teaching their child how to use media - starting with books.
First a book, then a smartphone
Because yes, a book is also a medium. We are constantly reading headlines that electronic media are addictive and that they are dangerous. This characterises our image of the media. And our view of them is narrowing. Yet media are diverse: books, magazines, newspapers, comics, audio stories, radio, music, TV, games, computers, the internet - and all of this on mobile devices in our pockets. The aim and desire of media education is for children to grow up competently in our media-permeated world. This means that ideally, children should learn how to use all these media one after the other and step by step.
A child's media world should expand step by step as they get older. It is too late to start media education in early adolescence. A mini-computer in the form of a smartphone is already so complex that a child has to achieve a great deal to be able to use it competently.
Parents can teach much more media skills than they think
When it comes to media literacy, many parents feel uneasy. How are they supposed to teach their child how to use new media when the child often understands more about it than the parents themselves? The good news is that parents and adults can teach much more media literacy than they think.
Media literacy means learning to see through the media, understand their intentions and know how to use them creatively and critically. You learn how to talk about media content, how to deal with it in a socially responsible way and how to enjoy using it. Of course, this also includes knowing how to use a medium. But parents don't have to know all the apps, be logged into various social networks or be able to beat their child in their favourite game in order to teach media skills. After all, they have life experience.
Online dossier on media consumption
And this experience needs to be passed on in conversation. Children like to talk about their favourite stories and games and ask lots of questions. If parents have an open ear for these media questions, the result is very informal conversations.
Parents know from experience that misunderstandings can arise when people communicate with each other. It's so easy to say something that you didn't really mean - even with WhatsApp and the like. Parents have experienced first-hand how seductive advertising can be. They have experienced how media can be enjoyed alone or together. And they know how good it feels to be unavailable for once.
Don't start the conversation when it comes to rules
It also encourages children immensely when they are allowed to be experts: Be it when they explain a game on the tablet to their mother or when they tell their father what makes their favourite series character so special. Parents would do well to talk to their children about media. Regularly and casually. Not just when it comes to risks, usage times and rules.
These agreements are a natural part of everyday family life. The younger the children, the easier it is for parents to control usage times and media content. Media rules make sense from an early age and are ideally renegotiated together with the children later on. This can look slightly different in every family. It is important that young people are accompanied in their media use and that there is a good balance between media and non-media activities.
Used correctly, media offer many opportunities. Teaching media skills is not complicated, but it takes time - at home and at school. This investment in children's future is definitely worth it.
Book tip
Eveline Hipeli: Media kids. Dealing consciously with all media - right from the start. Beobachter-Edition, 2014. 216 pages, Fr. 39.90.
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Read more:
- Auch wenn viele Eltern anderes behaupten würden: Das Onlineverhalten und der Medienkonsum der meisten Jugendlichen in der Schweiz ist unproblematisch.
- «Online war ich ein anderer» – Bericht eines Onlinesüchtigen.
- Mein Kind wird gemobbt und weitere Elternsorgen – wir antworten mit der JAMES-Studie.