Media Literacy Education is Essential
NAMLE ally Media Literacy Now is the leading national advocacy organization pushing for media literacy education policy. According to MediaLiteracyNow.org, the organization is:
- Changing the way people think about media and literacy through building public awareness and influencing policy
- Empowering grassroots groups of parents and concerned individuals in their push to bring classroom curriculum to local schools
- Providing policy and advocacy information, expertise, and resources to develop state laws, policies, and educational standards
Media Literacy Now tracks progress with legislative efforts state by state. And the movement is growing.
On July 26, 2019, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced the Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Act which calls on the Department of Education to create a grant program to assist states in developing K-12 media literacy programs and fund existing initiatives.
On July 8, 2022, “U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) introduced two pieces of bicameral legislation to strengthen media literacy education to teach Americans the skills to identify online misinformation and disinformation. The Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Act would create a grant program at the Department of Commerce to teach students digital citizenship and media literacy skills to help them think critically about online content. The Veterans Online Information and Cybersecurity Empowerment (VOICE) Act would create a grant program at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to teach veterans digital and media literacy skills as well as cybersecurity best practices to identify disinformation and online scams.”
How can you get involved?
Take action on the Media Literacy Now website here.