Media literacy is a set of critical thinking tools that provide a way to recognize how every medium we use - whether a book, a TikTok video or an internet news article - has profound differences in how we experience messages emotionally and intellectually. That’s because most of us have never heard of the term, either. We would need to model media literacy for them, and we don’t. They would need media literacy skills for that, and they’ve probably never heard of the term. It’s naive to think young people can look away on their own or even recognize inappropriate content in the first place. ![]() (As recent violence makes clear, this applies to adults, too.) Either they’re in communal physical spaces hijacked by screens or they’re in isolated, disembodied virtual spaces where it’s easy to fall down online rabbit holes and get stuck in distorted, algorithm-generated silos. We’re habituating them to a near-constant state of connectivity. It’s that our kids are tapping into it too often and for too long - and we’re letting them. Take another step back and the problem isn’t the media environment in isolation. Whether it’s “news” sites relentlessly hyping threats or photo filters too sophisticated to detect, our kids are inundated with skewed perspectives and misinformation that make the truth difficult to discern and healthy emotional habits difficult to develop and maintain. Today, our kids grow up absorbing a chaotic web of news, entertainment, advertising and editorial content, both user and brand-based, which creates a 24/7 onslaught of overstimulation, blurred facts, impossible standards and fear-based narratives. It’s the larger media environment in which our children live. Why? Because it’s not just social media or the internet. The real problem is far bigger than any one piece of legislation can solve and will require sweeping regulations and protections to address. ![]() The problem is that their efforts - from the newly proposed bipartisan Protecting Kids on Social Media Act to pending legislation in Maryland that would require platforms to utilize age-appropriate design code to one Congress member’s call for raising and enforcing the age of internet use to 16 - are really just attempts to plug holes in a dike. Legislators across the country are finally taking steps to protect children and teens online. ![]() It is one of several proposals in Congress seeking to make the internet safer for children and teens. Bipartisan legislation would prohibit children younger than 13 from using social media and would require permission from a guardian for users under 18 to create an account.
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