Media education instead of media literacy

Before addressing this, Van Aalderen already has some initial advice for schools: call it media education rather than media literacy when talking to parents. That makes it feel much more relevant. At school, you work on media literacy. Media education is the home-based version of this. The message is: teachers and parents work together to teach children how to use digital media responsibly. You do this at school, and they do it at home.

Step 1. Communicate your viewpoints

Does your school have a vision regarding digital resources? If not, it is more difficult to communicate your viewpoints clearly to parents. You then have to think about it every time. If you write it down clearly and properly once, you can easily refer back to it.

Questions you can address in a vision include:

  • What does your school consider important?
  • What do you teach children about being online?
  • What boundaries do you set?

What can parents expect from you, and what can they not expect? For example, will your school address problems in the group chat (after all, it is the group chat) or do you see that as the parents’ responsibility (after all, the messaging takes place outside school hours)?

If you proactively share your vision, you can act much more quickly when problems arise.

Step 2: Inform parents

When parents have more knowledge about the digital world, it naturally becomes clear to them that their children need active guidance. This knowledge also helps them spot problems much earlier, because parents know what to look out for.

Three ideas for informing parents:

1. Organize a parents’ evening. For example, through Bureau Jeugd en Media or a Media Coach. Or with the help of theater!

2. Create a leaflet about social media, healthy screen use and staying safe online. Explain what you as a school are doing about these issues and what parents can do at home. A few useful sources of information:

  • Trimbos Institute: in addition to ready-made leaflets, you will also find lots of information and statistics about internet use here.
  • NJI: information on talking to parents about media education and answers to frequently asked questions.
  • Blogs by media educator Marije Lagendijk: for example, what to look out for when giving your child a smartphone.
  • Take a look at the articles in our online library! We summarize many articles briefly, so you can quickly find what you are looking for.

3. Refer parents to online information about media education. A few helpful links:

Step 3: Repetition is the magic word

It is just like in the classroom: if you want to get something across, repetition is the magic word. Therefore, regularly draw attention to media literacy. This keeps the topic open for discussion. Not only does that ensure it remains relevant, it also makes it easier to raise an unpleasant experience. And that greatly reduces the chance of it escalating.

Tips

  • Make it a recurring topic of discussion. For example, mention new agreements that have been made in a newsletter, explain how you dealt with an incident, or alert parents to that strange TikTok Challenge that is hot again.
  • Find out whether there is a need for a reporting point. Do parents or students want a person they can tell (possibly anonymously) if something goes wrong in a group chat, or if unpleasant photos are being circulated, for example? A teacher or parent can then start a conversation in time.
  • Organize a conversation between parents. Can they make agreements together that will help their children? For example, no messaging at night, or spending no more than an hour behind a screen during a playdate.
  • Offer reading tips that help raise awareness. Here is a list:

Books

Articles

Difficult

Van Aalderen admits that it is difficult for schools to actively involve parents in media education. However, when schools themselves signal that using digital media responsibly is important, parents become more aware in any case. Moreover, schools and parents then ensure together that there is at least a safety net when things happen online that children cannot resolve on their own. And do not yet need to resolve on their own.

Source: Netwerk Mediawijsheid.