The Mount Airy Library and the Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery will present informative sessions to teach children in third through fifth grade how to understand the meanings of media messages and advertisements as part of the Media Detective program. The free camp runs at the Mount Airy Library from August 5 to August 9 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Media Detective classes are activity-based, media literacy education, alcohol and tobacco use prevention programs that engage children in the third through fifth grade in learning both about media and substance use.
These programs are the result of collaborations among child clinical and developmental psychologists, media literacy experts, veteran teachers, students, and substance abuse prevention professionals.
Course designers, Innovation Research & Training (iRT), a behavioral sciences research company based in Durham, said the classes are meant to arm young people with the power to see through the cloudy haze of a marketing campaigns.
Their program uses evidence-based methods, “To develop and evaluate behavioral, educational, psychological, social , and community assessment, prevention, and treatment programs. Recent findings suggest that media literacy is a promising approach to school-based substance abuse intervention.”
The programs consist of interactive activities and hands-on practice opportunities focusing on teaching critical thinking skills that build cumulatively upon one another throughout each program.
“Students discover the media world around them and apply critical thinking skills to better understanding what messages are being sent to them, particularly pro-drug messages about alcohol and tobacco products,” the course creators explained.
“Led by the dynamic detective duo of dog and cat mascots, Snoop and Scoop, students are taught to unravel the mysteries associated with media messages and advertisements by attending Media Detective School. Students “enroll” in Media Detective School and learn five clues to help them to solve the mystery of advertising.”
Knowing the five clues, students can practice applying their skills to analyzing ads and other media messages that they encounter in their everyday lives, so that they are able to “stop and think before simply accepting persuasive, and often unhealthy messages.
“It is hoped that students will question what they do, think, buy, or believe based upon what they see in the media and will make decisions that are more informed by facts than emotions,’ iRT explained.
Over the past several years of going into area schools to discuss the dangers of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and vaping Charlotte Reeves, SCOSAR Prevention and Administrative Services Manager, has often told the students their bodies and brains are still developing which amplifies the risks of experimentation.
She had told students in no uncertain terms that marketing for alcohol, tobacco, and vape products are often tailored to appeal to susceptible adolescents. It is no surprise, she explained, that vapes come in sweet sounding flavors like cotton candy meant to entice a new generation of customers into their business model.
“The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation reported that in the U.S. children, 8-18 years of age, spend an average of 6 hours and 21 minutes per day engaged in media-related activities... This number is likely to increase. The advertisements that youth are consistently exposed to are advertisements for products that are illegal for them to purchase or consume,” iRT documentation stated.
“In addition, not only are youth repeatedly exposed to such messages, the frequency of exposure is alarmingly high,” they added citing data from the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth children which said children view between 10% and 33% more advertisements for various types of alcohol in magazines than adults.
iRT said that recent studies have shown media literacy training can increase a young person’s media skepticism, has improved their ability to produce counterarguments to advertising, and increased the belief that “smoking and drinking are wrong for teens.”
A study found in the September 2010 issue of the journal Pediatrics said the Media Detective program can be effective because the forming young brain can still be influenced, “Media-related cognitions about alcohol and tobacco products are malleable. Media literacy– based interventions have potential for assisting elementary school children in making healthier, more informed decisions about use of alcohol and tobacco products.”
“Media literacy interventions can interrupt the progression from negative to positive substance use expectancies by strengthening children’s logical responses to media messages and raising their awareness of their own emotional responses,” the study authors wrote.
Mount Airy Library Manager Rana Southern said they are excited to offer the classes at the Mount Airy Library but pointed out that the classes are being offered at multiple branches of the Northwest Regional Library System.
The Media Detective classes will also be offered from July 29 to August 2 at the Elkin Public Library, starting at 9 a.m., and the Charles H. Stone Memorial Library in Pilot Mountain beginning at 2 p.m.
Classes are free and snacks will be provided to the Media Detectives; Southern did note that students are free to bring a lunch with them. Those interested in learning more, or registering for the event, are directed to call 336 789-5108.
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