If you don't want to leave your children's (or students') media education to chance, check out the following programs and online learning tools:
Mediacs offers a variety of media-awareness workshops for elementary, middle and high school students, and a half-day workshop for parents called Don't Let Popular Culture Raise Your Kids. In-class workshops include AD-Hawks (to help children navigate the marketing and advertising maze), Cool-Aid (deconstructing the selling of cool), and Feeding Frenzy (helping kids survive the junk-food jungle). Contact Mediacs at www.mediacs.ca.
An educational program created by Concerned Children's Advertisers (CCA) in partnership with Corus Entertainment, TV&ME integrates media literacy discussions with high entertainment value. The program can be used both in classrooms and homes. Contact the CCA by phone at 416-484-0871 or e-mail at info@cca-kids.ca.
View the CCA's House Hippo and Smart As You commercials with your child. Featuring a hippopotamus ensconced in a home and a talking television, these commercials teach young children to take control over what they watch and how they interpret it.
