YOUTH EMPOWERMENT in ACTION!
media literacy and civic engagement
The Youth Empowerment in Action! (YEA!) project was quite active in 2000 through 2009 and is still relevant today. YEA! is a media literacy-based program hosted by the Center for Character and Citizenship in the College of Education, University of Missouri, St. Louis with initial funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health.
This research-based service-learning program encourages and empowers youth to make their own choices and decisions through media literacy education and hands-on production experience. Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce communication in a variety of forms.
Why Is Media Education Important to Health?
Mass media has an undeniable impact on child and adolescent health. Children living in a media saturated society learn many things from the constant flow of messages, including information about health, such as messages about nutrition, sexual activity, tobacco and drug use, and violence. According to Michael Rich, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School, “The Media is the primary environmental health issue for our foreseeable future.” Media Education counters the barrage of media messages by encouraging children to make healthy choices based on sound information.
Children receive nearly 95% of their information via electronic media sources. Media Literacy is a catalyst for learning that engages and empowers youth while addressing important health concerns such as childhood obesity, tobacco prevention, violence prevention, and social and behavioral development. Media Education is a 21st Century skill that is necessary to empower children to make informed decisions and healthy choices.
There are five basic principles for critical analysis of media messages:
Media Messages are constructed.
Messages are representations of reality with embedded values and points of view.
Each form of media uses a unique set of rules to construct messages
Individuals interpret media messages and create their own meaning based on personal experience
Media are driven by profit within economic and political context
The YEA! project focused on two major programs affecting youth and community health:
being Healthy and Active
Media Literacy is essential to understanding and addressing children's health concerns. Today, children spend an average of 40 hours per week watching television. This sedentary lifestyle, combined with the steady flow of commercial advertising has contributed greatly to the increasing number of overweight and inactive children.
Healthy and Active Scott County Central consisted of three primary components to address this issue:
A Wellness Council
New Classroom Curriculum
School-Home-Community Partnerships
Program Objectives
Engage students in healthy behaviors
Provide Media Literacy and Health training for teachers, parents, and students
Maintain a website to connect partners with best practices and current research
Provide new opportunities to participate in healthy activities
Establish a creative outlet for student-produced advocacy
promoting a smoke free missouri
The purpose of marketing tobacco to children is to create life long customers. Understanding the nature of advertising and the effects of imaging helps students become critical consumers of media.
School-Home-Community
Tobacco Prevention must be a coordinated effort. Tobacco use in Missouri Accounts for more than 10,000 deaths annually and is a primary health issue for society. Every day more than 3000 children begin smoking. Encouraging strong partner- ships and providing consistent messages are keys to developing a child's ability to make healthy choices. The tobacco prevention school program will be supported through home activities and community awareness. Students will learn how to assess health risks, identify policy issues, and ultimately use media to make their voices heard.
Production
Through hands-on media production, students developed technical skills while practicing critical thinking. Students produced a variety of media messages to encourage healthy and active lifestyles, including: audio and video public service announcements, posters, and news articles.