Do Youth See Politicians As Puppets?

As MyDebates.org gives kids a MySpace forum for Social Studies classrooms to attempt to instill a civic sense of  ‘how it all works’ with “Who won? Who lost?’ Who made the stronger case?” it makes me ponder if we're perhaps asking kids the wrong question entirely. I'm all for teaching kids how to watch a debate, and giving media literacy … [Read more...]

Stage-Crafting Politics: Media Literacy Tips for Kids

Aug. 22, 2016 Update Excellent post by Diana Graber at Cyberwise "What to Tell Kids When Adults Behave Badly" which sadly validates, via Southern Poverty Law Center, how we've unraveled 15 years of anti-bullying education in schools with the crass, raunchy bluster of our current political climate. See "The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on our … [Read more...]

GovTweets: A Snapshot of Election Dialogue

Not that a ton of teens are tweeting on Twitter just yet, but if helpful hacks like GovTweets take hold, the PoliSci exam cram kids will be au courant in a micro-second with these little info capsules! Created by Canadian political analyst Stephen Taylor, it’s a cool ‘day in the life’ of media mindshare in our ongoing Age of Conversation. He's made it so … [Read more...]