Education

You’ve made your choices about what your family will watch and what’s off limits. Now, how can you help your children understand and place in context what they watch on television and encounter in the media? One way, according to the National PTA, medical experts, and child development experts, is to help your family become “media literate.”

Children need the knowledge and skill to understand, analyze, evaluate, and even make media, and that’s what media literacy is all about — watching television or using any media with a critical eye, asking questions and examining the messages and values presented.

Navigating the Children's Media Landscape

The astonishing number and variety of today’s media, growing by leaps and bounds, presents new challenges for parents and caregivers. National PTA and Cable in the Classroom have released this report to help you navigate your children through this media-rich world.

National PTA and Cable in the Classroom provide reports, articles, tips and surveys to help you navigate your children through this media-rich world.

Navigating the Children’s Media Landscape Report

Updated in 2008, this guide helps families develop a comprehensive media plan that allows them to take greater control of their TV viewing, Internet and other media activities. Focusing on media literacy and the safe and ethical use of media, the report provides ideas and strategies to help parents and caregivers select and use media in ways appropriate for their children.

Recommended Reading

This section of Cable in the Classroom’s website has a collection of articles and tips about children and media.