Many books and online resources help parents guide conversations about media literacy with their children and further educate themselves.
The National Association of Media Literacy Education put together a parents guide with helpful talking points. The organization has also launched the “Stop Media Monsters” campaign to promote basic literacy in public. Beyond NAMLE resources, Lipkin recommended Cyberwise, Raising Digital Natives, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.
Common Sense Media also has several guidelines, lesson plans , and videos to help parents raise media-savvy kids. PBS Kids offers similar resources.
Pinna’s weekly “Time for Kids Explains” podcast has a recurring segment in every episode called “Fact or Fishy?” that encourages kids to think about credible information in the news. McGuire suggested parents also check out the Center for Media Literacy’s list of tips, ideas, and internet resources.
Terry Brown pointed to the News Literacy Project, as well as her new book, “Breaking the News: What is Real, What is Not, and Why the Difference Matters.”
Vasquez recommended “Screen Time: How Electronic Media ― From Baby Videos to Educational Software ― Affects Your Young Child” by Lisa Guernsey. Vasquez also listed three books that are geared toward teachers but may be helpful for parents: “The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World” by Cynthia L. Scheibe and Faith Rogow, “Media Literacy is Elementary: Teaching Youth to Critically Read and Create Media” by Jeff Share, and “Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood” by herself and Carol Branigan Felderman.
