CITIZENSHIP The Police Community Clubs
The Media Issue
magazine for schools
Children
& media the
Creating new media Practical projects that improve media literacy Q&A with Ofcom media literacy chief Robin Blake answers our questions The PSHE debate − A fresh approach Newswriting lesson plans A great way to get kids questioning the media
Using the media in class How to make the most of magazines, news and films
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Contents
Welcome
FEATURES Kids creating media 12 The Children’s Media Conference 20 2010 - My diary Children’s media statistics 24 The PSHE debate - 28 A new way of thinking I Can Be... Media Mogul Barbie 30 Q&A with Robin Blake, 34 Ofcom head of media literacy
As someone who works within the media, it’s with some dismay that I read so many reports and opinion pieces damning its negative influence on impressionable young minds. There are undoubtedly problems that need to be addressed, but the media can also be a wonderful thing, introducing children to the world around them.
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Luke Davis, Editor
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Notice to Advertisers Whilst every care is taken to ensure that the contents including advertisements are accurate, the publisher cannot assume responsibility for errors.
I hope that you enjoy the issue and come away with some valuable information. In short, I hope this issue will satisfy the criteria that all media should aspire to meet – to entertain, inform and educate.
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There are also lesson plans that allow children to take the role of the journalist, an explanation of the child advertising rules, and a look what goes on at the Children’s Media Conference – the annual get-together for the big boys of media from Disney to CBeebies.
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LESSON PLANS Using the media in class The junior newshound
So in this issue, we use a teacher’s first-hand experiences to determine what issues need to be addressed, we consider how getting children to create media for themselves can improve their understanding of it, and then look at how we can use real examples of modern media in the class room.
POLICE
REGULAR ITEMS Know the Rules - 37 Advertising to children Recipe - Carrot cake 38 Pupils’ corner - 40 The media influence
To ensure that they can safely make the most of what is offered via television, print, the internet (and every other emerging strand of what we call media), children need to understand how the media works and how to critically analyse it. And not just in a simple or superficial sense.
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Community Initiatives Associates 0800 783 5805
Editorial Tom Jackson Police Community Clubs of Great Britain Christina Fenlon Lisa Wishart-Terry and Christopher Terry Barry Jones MBE Devon Waters (Level 1), Durrant Lane, Northam, Loic Menzies Devon EX39 2RL Tel: 01237 471 615 Design Joanne Hewitt www.thepolicecommunityclubs.org Advertising Chris Parry © All rights reserved. No part of The Citizenship Magazine for 01244 316629 Schools may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or in any form without the written permission of the editor. support@thecitizenshipmagazine.org transmitted Copyright2009 ISSN Applied For.
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AWARDS2011 In association with The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain
www.communityeducationawards.co.uk
AWARDS2011 In association with The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain
www.barneyecho.co.uk
“With over 4,500 hotels globally, we have a big responsibility and a big opportunity to make a positive difference in our communities�
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The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain NEWS
Barry Jones MBE
Community Education Awards 2011 In a bid to celebrate the efforts of schools to help pupils become positive community members, we are currently organising The Community Education Awards 2011. There has been lots of support from the business community, with companies such as Umbro and Intercontinental Hotel Group eager to sponsor awards, while ChildLine founder Esther Rantzen CBE has also offered her backing by agreeing to act as a brand ambassador and awards ceremony host. In total there are 12 separate categories, covering a wide range of education projects and individual roles, with the winner of each due to receive free educational resources as well as an invitation to publicise their work further at the Awards dinner. To enter your school and have a chance of winning, please visit www.ceawards.co.uk. Boxing programmes We continue the administrative lead for the Amateur Boxing Association of England in the delivery of Olympic-style non-contact boxing. The ABAE Leader programme and the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain’s Contender Am-box are leading the way in delivering
boxing to hundreds of youngsters who have never before been engaged in sport. Recently we have also had a presence at the Youth Sport Trust ‘School, Sport Partnership’ seminar held at the International Centre in Telford, Shropshire. This was a wonderful shop window for our work in sport and generated great ongoing interest in the clubs. Education projects Our partnership with both LiME and Community Initiatives Associates continues to blossom and a number of innovative projects are now being rolled out. Our current flagship project is our No Respect: Cause and Effect programme; a high school project that addresses anti-social behaviour in an innovative way. We are also partners in the Inspire programme linked to the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games. For more information about the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain, please visit www.policecommunityclubs.org Barry T Jones MBE Founder of the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain
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Using the
media class in
While the media is often criticised for having a negative influence on children, primary school teacher Christina Fenlon has found that products like magazines, movies and news sites can also help to get pupils excited about learning. Here she offers some ideas for cross-curricular links
Bee Movie
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Cookery Use the film to inspire kids to get excited about honey-based recipes. Geography Learn about orientation and the basic map elements.
Literacy Make a glossary of all the new terms learnt, create character profiles, develop a storyline for a sequel or produce a timeline of events. Also check out the activity sheets and games on the Bee Movie website. Numeracy Consider the construction of the beehive and its use of tessellating shapes. PSHE Use the honey bee society as an example of a community and investigate the role of the queen bee, the worker and the drone. Science Learn about what nectar, honey and pollen are and where they come from. Investigate life cycles, look at insects’ anatomy and the role of the honey bee in nature. www.beemovie.com
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Film Art and Design Why not use some examples of film to demonstrate to children that art can take many different forms? Point out the use of colour, light and composition within certain frames of film and draw comparisons with the traditional arts. You could also look at film poster design and the mixture of artistic and commercial choices made by the artist.
History History has been a rich mine of inspiration for filmmakers since the very first pictures were produced. Bearing in mind that some directors and scriptwriters have been more faithful to their source material than others, use a carefully selected piece of film to kick off a new topic. And then perhaps consider how film can be used as a historical source, telling us about life and politics during the era in which it was made. Finally, film has its own rich history to explore. Music Since the first ‘talkies’, sound has been almost as important to film as vision. To further appreciate the relationship between one and the other, ask students to consider what feelings are conjured up
LESSON IDEAS
by different types of music when played over the top of the same piece of action. The effects can be startling. There are also a great number of musicians and composers that students can be introduced to through their film work, from Herbie Hancock to Erik Satie.
Numeracy Although it can be considered a form of art, cinema is still very much a business and every year it seems a new blockbuster is challenging to break into the list of the biggest grossing films of all time. Why not look at how many viewers a film has had, how many DVDs are sold and look into where the profits come from? You can use fractions and percentages to reveal the disparity between how much £1million pound was worth when Gone With the Wind was breaking records and how much it meant when Avatar hit the screens. PSHE/Citizenship Films can be used to introduce children to challenging issues such as bullying, substance abuse and stereotyping. They can also be used to expose children to the lives and cultures of people who live in remote places, aiding their
understanding of global issues and ideas of difference. And don’t forget, America is now only the third biggest producer of films in the world behind India and Nigeria – there is a world of cinema out there. The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 7
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News m
History “The first rough draft of history”, is how former Washington Post publisher Phil Graham famously described newspapers. They offer the young historian a fantastic mix of fact, opinion and speculation with which to hone their critical skills. ICT Not since the introduction of the printing press has technology caused news gathering and communication to undergo such a fundamental shift. Show children all of the different ways that computers are used in the modern media, from gathering leads and opinions through tools like email and social networks, to using news sites to send information out to the world. Then help them to create their own class newsletter or online news site. Literacy Newspapers and news sites contain many different styles of writing, from simple news-in-brief stories to opinion columns and full-length features. Explain some of the differences in terms of both style and content and then give your pupils the opportunity to 8
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come up with their own articles and headlines. It’s a great way of opening up the world of the written word and also allows you to offer them some key lessons about fact vs fiction and the reliability of media sources as well as helping them to expand their vocabulary. Numeracy Newspapers are full of statistics and financial figures. Why not use them as core data for maths exercises? Breaking them down and figuring out which sums to use to find different conclusions will keep even the most talented minds engaged. The sports pages also offer a wealth of statistical data and should offer extra appeal
to sports fans. PSHE It can be difficult to select newspaper material to use in primary schools as while the red tops often contain unsuitable material, the broadsheets are often too complex. However, carefully selected clippings can still be used to demonstrate different ways in which groups of people are portrayed by the press. News footage can also be a great introduction to sensitive issues, and asking children to examine the motives and the decision making involved in creating a story is vital for developing media literacy.
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LESSON IDEAS
e.g.
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Newsround
ICT Use the site as a safe online location where children can practice their internet skills. Also, use it as an example of modern concepts such as user-generated content and crowdsourcing.
Literacy Newsround provides children with the opportunity to contribute their own content, from film reviews to news stories. The opportunity to see their story on screen is sure to boost enthusiasm for writing. PSHE Newsround provides children with a global outlook, introducing cultures and events from around the world. It is also a valuable source of age appropriate content that addresses sensitive issues. Science The website contains a dedicated animals section that introduces different species through fun and often bizarre stories. Speaking and listening Have your pupils watch a Newsround report and then invite them to record interviews with each other and create their own news item. news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews
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LESSON IDEAS
Maga
Art Magazines, with their arresting images and striking graphics, can serve as great introductions to practical design elements like typography, photography, colour theme and layout. By collecting a range of magazines aimed at different demographics, it can be really interesting for children to point out the differences in design and speculate as to why different publishers make different choices. They can point what they think works and what doesn’t and use the magazines and the images within as stimulus for their own artworks, or even as the raw material for collage work. Geography While magazines like National Geographic contain some amazing stories and images that clearly relate to the subject, publications that may appear to have less relevance can still be useful. For example, why not look at the process involved in creating magazines as physical products, from the South American rainforests and the problems of deforestation, to the paper plants and the pollution they can cause. Then look at recycling and the 10 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
efforts being made by both publishers and readers. ICT Had the doom-mongers been correct, then the magazine would already have been consigned to the dustbin of media history. Instead, they have evolved. Increasingly magazines are becoming multi-platform products, with iPad and iPhone apps, websites and social media profiles supplementing the print editions. Introduce pupils to the different forms of technology that a single magazine will now rely on. Literacy Magazines tend to contain feature stories, but they can still take many different forms. Interviews, for example, can be in a question and answer format, turned into a first person account or form part of a profile piece. Different types of stories can all be used as an inspiration for assignments that pupils can work on. Clippings can also be used to demonstrate specific elements of writing, from grammar and syntax to devices like alliteration and onomatopoeia.
PSHE To a child’s eye, magazine content may not always be as it seems. Younger children in particular may find it difficult to see the difference between an article and an advert, especially when a publication contains ‘advertorial’ features. To improve media literacy, explain the difference between adverts and editorial and ask them to identify which is which within an appropriate magazine.
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azines
Match!
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Citizenship The opportunities to express opinions and take part in online polls offer children a good introduction to having a say on issues and engaging in civic activities like petitioning and protesting. Geography Following the global game almost guarantees fans a basic grasp of the continents, countries and major cities. Use competitions like the Champions League and world cup qualifications to plot out maps. Maths The magazine and the website both contain loads of statistics and league tables which can be used as the raw data for work on percentages, fractions and simple sums. Money management Fantasy football competitions offer a great opportunity for children to use a budget and see what returns they can get on their investments. PE The magazine’s website features a FA skills section, using videos and tips to help young footballers develop new techniques. PSHE It also includes players’ tips on the food they eat – a great starting point for looking more closely at the issue of health. www.matchmag.co.uk
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Kids creating media
For the first time, technology has given children the opportunity to become media creators. Luke Davis looks at how practical projects are helping to improve media literacy
Not so long ago, the relationship between children and the media was strictly a one-way affair. While kids were eager consumers of TV, radio and magazines, opportunities for them to contribute were virtually nonexistent. But not anymore. With more and more children gaining access to computers, cameras and free internet tools, young people are creating media for themselves. And the good news for educators is that it’s proving to be a great way of developing media literacy. Oliver Quinlan, a recently qualified primary school teacher with a background in media, is just one of a growing band of educators convinced that practical work is the way forward. Since he joined Robin Hood Primary School in Birmingham one and a half years ago, he has made the class blog an integral part of day-to-day class work, with children encouraged to share their efforts with the world. “I’m a great believer in doing tasks that are authentic”, he 12 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
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FEATURE
explains. ”That’s why we began with the class blog – because, rather than complete exercises only their teacher will see, I wanted the children to reach some kind of genuine audience.” It’s a long way from the days when, as a six-year-old, the former student radio DJ would spend hours carefully constructing his own radio shows on a tiny cassette player. He says that the kids share the same enthusiasm he had as a child but that having an audience has made them even more determined to produce their best work. From uploading their stories and artwork onto the blog, the class have since begun to produce more sophisticated content including videos, animation and podcasts. It helps that they are lucky enough to have an in-school media suite and a teacher with such passion and know-how, but Oliver is adamant that all teachers can get kids creating media, whatever their resources or training. “They just need to make the links between what they are using in their own lives technology-wise and how they can apply it to their teaching,” he says. That’s the approach being taken by a growing band of teacherbloggers who are constantly finding new ways of having pupils use free tools like Google, social media and blogging platforms to create media in class. It’s a grass roots movement that’s quickly gaining steam, and which proponents believe is having a real effect on media literacy. “When children are creating stuff,” Oliver says, “they suddenly start to
think about the concepts behind it and the big picture – you just need to ensure that they are allowed the time to evaluate what they are doing.” There’s no doubt that there’s a pressing need for educators to address the subject. Recent Ofcom media literacy surveys reveal that while virtually all teenagers have some access to the internet, many still take a very naïve view of the information they find. One in four 12-15s, for example, think that search engines only return results from websites with accurate information and nearly a third think that news sites only publish the truth. Surely it makes sense then to have younger children take the role of the media producer and learn about the subject from the inside out. That’s the approach taken by Headliners, a national news agency that helps children as young as eight to find and tell stories that are important to them. The Headliners team of experienced journalists supplement the work of teachers like Oliver by working with schools and youth groups to train children in modern media techniques. The children are then given the opportunity to create original content that in some cases ends up on major news sites such as Sky News, the Guardian and the BBC. Broadcast journalist Jacob Brown joined the charity after he had gained some teaching experience as a journalism lecturer in Samoa. He has found the mixture of media and tuition to be a perfect fit – both for him and for students.
“What I love is the blend of doing something like journalism – because we love finding out new things and investigating things – and being able to pass that on to young people,” he says. “It is quite inspiring. And with a lot of primary school young people, they absolutely love it because they get to use equipment that they’ve never touched before. They really get motivated and excited about doing something completely different – rather than sitting behind desks.” Jacob also feels that it is important that the children themselves come up with the stories and make the crucial decisions. A recent story that Jacob helped put together, for example, focussed on the issue of sexual bullying – an idea that one of the girls in his group came up with. This approach means that children get first hand experience of the decision-making that happens behind the scenes at media companies. “The best way of learning
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FEATURE
Anti-bullying website creator Abbi Morrall
something is to create it yourself,” explains Jacob. “Go through those processes and see how it works. Ask yourself questions like, “Why have we left out this particular thing? Why are we including this?” I think the story process of journalism really helps them to question what is out there.” Let’s not forget, however, that while teachers and professionals have a huge part to play, children actually spend far more time on the internet at home. With the right support and supervision, it’s another opportunity for children to get involved in creating media. Take the example of Abbi Morrall who, at the age of 13, created her own original media product as part of an anti-bullying campaign. Having suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of primary school bullies, she had gone on to get elected to an antibullying panel in her high school. Her efforts to crack down on the problem then led to her receiving a £500 prize which she decided to use to help more bullying victims 14 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
– she just needed to find the best method of reaching them. “We went through the things that would appeal most to other children and for me it was the internet,” she says. “The internet was playing a big role in children’s lives – if they didn’t have it at home then they had it at school.” Crucially, children were able to do more than simply view it – they could create and interact as well, allowing children to swap stories and advice. With just a little help from professionals to get the site off the ground, Abs Kids was born. It wasn’t long before Abbi was in complete control of the site, adding content, developing new features and racking up the hit counts – currently 128,000 and counting. “It just shows that although there are the bad sides to the internet, it can help a lot of people too”, she says. The media loved the story of the 13-year-old girl who had found such a modern way of fighting back against the bullies and she
was soon appearing on the Sharon Osbourne Show, This Morning and having newspaper and magazine articles written about her. The experience taught her just how important it is that children get an inside look at how the media industry works. “People can change your words so easily”, she says, “especially when it comes to being written about in magazines, newspapers and articles on the internet. Because you read an article and think, “Wait, I didn’t say that, I said something completely different”... I now know how much of an influence the media has on us today and on the society that we live in which is why it’s so important that people make their own interpretations of the media.” Abbi continues to use self-made media to drive her anti-bullying campaign – now under the umbrella of Channel 4 campaign series Battlefront, which publicises her YouTube videos and social media profiles. The most recent figures also show that more and more children are gaining the skills they need to develop their own media, with three quarters of children aged 12-15 saying that they are confident using the internet for creative tasks like uploading videos and creating blogs. And while Abbi began by enlisting the help of professionals, there are thousands of free tools, tutorials and templates available to help children start their own projects. As far as Headliners journalist Jacob Brown is concerned, it’s a golden opportunity that we can’t afford to miss. “Of course there’s a place for theory,” he says. “But me, personally, I’ve always learnt more by doing it.”
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AWARDS2011 In association with The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain The Community Education Awards 2011 is your chance to publicise the great work you do to help pupils become positive community members. Organised by the Police Community Clubs of Great Britain, they are open to all UK schools and pupil referral units using education to encourage good citizenship and responsible decision-making. In 2011, the inaugural year of the Awards, there are 12 separate categories designed to cover a wide range of education projects and individual roles. The winner of each award will receive free educational resources as well as an invitation to attend a winners’ ceremony hosted by brand ambassador Esther Rantzen CBE.
Esther Rantzen CBE – brand ambassador and awards ceremony host
Esther Rantzen CBE has campaigned tirelessly for children’s rights for more than 20 years. Having first found fame as the Please click on an award title and complete a brief online form to enter: presenter of That’s Life! – the BBC’s long-running consumer programme – she went on to The Lord John Stevens Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement set up ChildLine, the first 24The Citizenship Magazine Award for Outstanding PSHE/Citizenship Teacher hour confidential helpline for children. The Barry Jones MBE Award for Outstanding Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) Mentor In association with The Police Community Clubs Great her Britain She has nowof pledged The Umbro Community Sports Project Award support to the Community Education Awards, agreeing to The Community Aware Green Schools Project Award act as brand ambassador and The Community Initiatives Associates Money Management Project Award awards ceremony host. “I’m The IHG Inspiring Career Opportunity Award delighted to be an ambassador for the Awards,” she said. “I’m The IT247 Internet Safety Project Award sure they will be a real The Allianz Insurance Action Against Anti-Social Behaviour Project Award incentive, and celebrate genuine achievements.” The Contender Am-Box Action Against Misuse of Drugs Project Award
AWARDS2011
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LESSON PLANS
junior newshound The
Key stage 1-2 media literacy lesson plans This set of lesson plans uses practical work and real-world media examples to teach children some important lessons about analysing the news
Lesson 1 Learning objectives • To recognise the constituent parts of a news story • To understand the nature of objectivity • To develop critical skills • To encourage children to interrogate and analyse the media Activities Select an event or incident that has been widely covered in the press and bring in news reports from several different newspapers (or news sites), both tabloid and broadsheet. Split the class into a corresponding number of groups and give each one a version of the story. Set them the task of using their clipping to find what happened, who was involved, when and where it occurred and, if possible, why and how. Once they have gathered their answers, ask each group to read them out while you note them down on the board. Look at any variations in the answers and lead a discussion about why, introducing them to possible scenarios. Was one journalist not telling the truth, was there a difference of opinion, were they relying on different sources, was there an agenda at stake or had someone simply made a mistake? Plenary Lead a discussion about whether or not we should always believe what we read or hear in the media.
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Lesson 2 Learning objectives • To develop research skills • To develop problem-solving skills • To learn about the vocation of a journalist • To learn the difference between fact and opinion Activities Put together a few examples of news story ideas based around school life. For instance, a building may be about to be developed, a teacher may be retiring, there may be a new teacher in the school or an annual event may be about to take place. Ask the class whether they can think of anything else that could be turned into a news story. Once you have a list of ideas, assign article proposals to different individuals, with some pupils chasing the same stories. Then discuss with them the different questions they will need to answer – who, where, what, when etc. Then talk about how they will find these answers, what sources they will need to identify and who they will need to talk to. In small groups and at different times, set the children off on finding answers to their questions. They should find out all the facts, as well as the opinions of people involved. The best method may be to set up mini press conferences with a source invited into the classroom to answer the children’s questions. Plenary Once they have their answers, go round the class asking for examples and discuss whether what they found is an opinion or a fact.
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LESSON PLANS
Lesson 3 Learning Objectives • To follow detailed instructions • To write succinctly and clearly • To consider the reliability of media information Activities Ask pupils to look back at the examples of news stories you used in lesson one. Use them as examples for some of the newswriting tips contained in the box (right). Ask pupils to incorporate these tips into their own work and then give them time to write their articles. Once they have completed this task, ask them to read out their stories and then lead a discussion about the differences and similarities between articles looking at the same event. Also ask them to interrogate each others’ articles by pondering whether the facts or sources are to be trusted and whether they contain facts or opinions. Plenary Ask pupils to list some of the things they have learned about the media and how their opinion of what they read has changed.
Further lesson ideas: • • • •
Create a newsletter or news blog containing stories written by students Ask a local journalist to come into class to discuss his/her job and how pupils should interpret what they see or read in the media Look at all the different ways that the media can present news stories, from traditional newspapers and TV news to social media updates and blogs Look at how specific PSHE issues like stereotyping, bullying and substance abuse are represented by the media
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Some newswriting tips you may want to pass on to pupils when helping them to write their stories: •
Unlike in creative writing, quotes are always ‘said’ by the subject, never ‘whispered’, ‘commented’, ‘screamed’ or ‘shouted’. This is to ensure the story is as simple, clear and objective as possible.
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The first paragraph of any news story summarises the main thrust of what has happened. The rest of the story is ordered according to what is most interesting and important. This approach attracts the reader’s attention and ensures that they carry on reading.
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Paragraphs should be very short and seldom include any more than one or two sentences. Huge chunks of text can put casual readers off.
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News stories can contain the opinions of people involved in the incident or event, but should never explicitly contain the opinion of the writer. The journalist’s job is only to report and not to comment.
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Once you’ve written your news story, always double check all of your facts. The public relies on you to get it right.
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Don’t use long or complicated words when a short simple one will do. The aim is to be as clear as possible.
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Be careful when using adjectives – they can sometimes turn a fact into an opinion.
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Always be precise. Don’t just say something is big or long or old, give it a value.
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INTEREST
2010
y r a i d My Day 1 For a conference which aims to look at how the children’s media industry will function in the new decade, it seems strange that the name on everyone’s lips is that of a 1970s American sitcom character. “I can’t wait to see the Fonz”, says one excited attendee, stood outside Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema. “Oh my God, I signed up as soon as I saw he was going to be on the bill”, pants another. Henry Winkler, the actor most famous for playing Happy Days’ leather-clad babe magnet Arthur Fonzerelli, has since reinvented himself as the best-selling author of 17 children’s novels. And to the delight of more than 500 swooning media professionals, he is to be the key note speaker at the seventh annual Children’s Media Conference. But first it’s time to head off to the opening workshops – a chance to meet my fellow delegates and stretch a few creative muscles before getting down to the serious business of setting the children’s media world to rights. My team-mates for the task are my first real introduction to the 20 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
Every year, the big guns of children’s media get together at The Children’s Media Conference to discuss the latest industry developments. Luke Davis went along to the 2010 event to find out more people behind the industry and I am intrigued. Sat in front of me is statuesque Disney media planning manager Mirja; immaculately groomed, dressed head-to-toe in corporate monochrome and wearing killer heels. The man with the asymmetrical fringe sat beside her is freelance scriptwriter Davey. He reels off a few of his credits (Postman Pat, Balamory and Dick & Dom in Da Bungalow among others) before chatting enthusiastically with the final member of our foursome, Hannah, about why they got into the industry. “Well, if I wasn’t working in children’s media, I would just be at home watching cartoons and playing games on the internet,” admits Hannah, who works on the Tate Gallery’s online children’s resources. Davey says that he’s just a big kid too and raves about his collection of cartoon t-shirts. “This is the first time I’ve been to the conference and not worn a Ren & Stimpy t-shirt”, he says proudly. Mirja, who doesn’t look like she owns many novelty t-shirts, just smiles.
Our task is to speed-develop a new media product that will have a positive impact on kids. It’s a bit of a struggle at first, but we eventually come up with a racismbusting Facebook quiz called MapMe that helps participants to recognise their connections to distant places and cultures. We are all immensely proud of ourselves and equally impressed by the efforts of the other groups. That is until Frank Boyd, the man running the workshop and a former BBC creative director, offers me his thoughts. “The problem with this approach is that sometimes people get very worthy about what they do”, he sniffs, “and I think some of the ideas suffered from that a bit and there wasn’t enough fun.” Pride is soon restored though when Gordon Lamont, Baftawinning former editor of BBC Schools Online, makes a bee-line to our table to tell us that our idea was the best. Currently working on a set of video assemblies addressing SEAL topics, he tells me about how media products can benefit PSHE and citizenship classes. “I think the core thing that
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German immigrant parents. “Dummerhund is what they used to call me”, he says. “For those of you who do not speak German, that means dum dog.” It wasn’t until he was 31 and his dyslexia was diagnosed that he could finally understand why his academic toils had resulted in nought but frustration and criticism. Now he is using the power of the media to affect the lives of children who may be having a similar experience – and encouraging the UK’s creatives
© Jennifer Booth
Attendees of The Children’s Media Conference 2010 © Jennifer Booth
© Jennifer Booth Actor-turned-children’s author Henry Winkler, addressing the conference
Team-mates Mirja and Davey plot their victory over teen racism
media can offer is some kind of starting point”, he says, “something that will get children coming up with their own ideas.” But what about technology and the new opportunities for interaction that everyone is talking about? “When I first started it was very much that all of the content was coming from the broadcaster. Now things are much more interactive so children are able to create and send in their own material and I’m sure that’s the way it’s going to go. But I personally feel there
is still a place for the classic linear story telling that has stood us in good stead from Homer to Homer Simpson.” That’s good news for Henry Winkler then, whose Hank Zipzer books are reassuringly traditional. I find a signed copy of the latest instalment on my seat as I wait for the great man to appear. When he finally takes to the stage, grey haired and besuited, he leads us on a journey through his childhood, marked by troubles at school, poor academic performance and jibes from his
Moshi Monsters creator Michael Acton Smith
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INTEREST
to do the same. When I get the chance to speak with him later, I ask him if he has any advice for the UK’s primary school teachers. “I would not give advice to them, I would say thank you to them for they are the second, sometimes the primary, most important human being in the children’s’ lives.” I can only presume that puts the media bods some way down the pecking order, but still, the assembled ranks of media professionals leave the auditorium bathing in his glow. After the scrum for pictures dies down, I ask a few for their reactions. “I thought Henry was absolutely fantastic,” says the owner of a digital creative agency. “He’s a legend from my childhood and I own a company which does children’s entertainment so he resonated a lot with me.” The lady who had sat next to me during the speech simply says, “I think I love him.” A trademark two thumbs up for the Fonz then.
Day 2 I begin the day by wandering around the venue’s corridors and using the power of prejudice to crudely categorise the other delegates. There are the young scruffy lot with unkempt hair and bright t-shirts who I take to be the creatives (see Davey). With age, they seem to eventually morph into heavily accessorised women or flamboyantly coiffeured men
22 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
sporting floral shorts. And then, hovering around the edges of every room, there are the suits who, rather than take part in workshops, look on gimlet-eyed and knowing – surely the paymasters and power-brokers. The man behind Moshi Monsters, the smash hit social network for primary school kids, falls squarely into the second category. Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Mind Candy, talks about the site during a session on projects that ‘give something back’ to the kids. Moshi Monsters, he explains, is a cross between Tamagotchi and Facebook but with added learning (or stealth education, as he calls it). Children design their own virtual room, choose a vaguely Japanese anime-style pet to adopt and then chat together and play puzzles. It’s a fairly simple idea but, as primary school teachers will no doubt attest, it’s become something of a phenomenon. “I did a talk on it here at the conference two years ago and no-one had heard of it,” recalls Michael. “It now has 22 million children around the world playing and a new child signs up every single second.” Not all teachers are overjoyed with it though. A reader who teaches a reception class told me before the conference that she regularly has to deal with the fallout of online bullying that takes place on the site. After the session, when I ask Michael for his thoughts, he responds by pointing out that moderators and
user controls are used to crack down on the problems. Yet he remains adamant that the site should “strike a balance” between child safety and user freedom. It’s not the first time I’ve heard the phrase “strike a balance” during the conference and it won’t be the last. Desperate though media professionals are to push the boundaries and produce content that is fun, exciting and profitable, the age of their audience forces them to also consider safety, education and doing the right thing – being a bit “worthy” as workshop leader Frank Boyd would no doubt put it. Never is this truer than in terms of marketing – the topic of the next session. Media producers, it seems, are having a pretty tough time striking a balance between ethics and profit. For example, they know that there are droves of under-13s ignoring Facebook’s age restrictions and logging on to the site but, as those children aren’t supposed to be there, it’s ethically out of bounds. And then there’s the issue of programmes acting as advertisements, a trend led by eager toy companies desperate to cash in on product-led shows. Miles Bullough from Aardman Animations (creator of CBeebies’ animated series Timmy Time) talks candidly about his own company’s approach. “The truth of the matter is that the television licence fees don’t cover the cost of producing a series like Timmy”, he says, “and so we are looking at all areas of
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© Jennifer Booth
Our own Luke Davis (right) chats with a fellow delegate
exploitation to turn a profit and keep the company going.” The primary aim is still to create good shows, he says, but “in the background I’m praying people will rush to the shops and buy something.” It’s no wonder then that kids can find the media so confusing and that Jacqueline Harding, a researcher and former head teacher, is so angered by some schools’ reluctance to address the issue. “Schools who really think it is better to opt out of media literacy – where are they at?” she huffs. “They are thinking of some golden age that existed 30, 40 years ago
and that that was the best way to educate children. No it was not. If you are seven-years-old at this moment you are more likely to own an iPhone than to own a book… get with the times. Don’t demonise the media. Get wise.” Sadly, there don’t seem to be any teachers in the audience to hear her rant. The nearest I find is another former teacher, Jane Helliwell who, after 10 years as a primary school governor and 20 as a high school teacher, has reinvented herself as a comedy screen writer. I arrange to meet her at the post-conference drinks reception held at a nearby art gallery.
“I never used resources created by media companies when I was a teacher,” she says. “But I think it would have been really useful and I wish I knew what I know now… The producers need the teachers along, because while they are looking to make money, teachers know exactly what children require in terms of education.” As the day draws to a close and I make my way back to Sheffield train station, I can’t help but think she is right. Hopefully next time I visit the conference there will be a fourth category of delegate – sensibly heeled teachers furtively trying to grab an extra goody bag to take back to class.
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 23
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Facts and figures
children’s m Media used at home by children aged 5-7 and 8-11
FACT – Six in ten children aged 5-16 own a PC or la Half of all 7-16-year-olds can access the internet
24 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
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FACTS & FIGURES
s
media statistics at t ou lds d e o rri eara s c 11-y e i it 8v i ct k by a 1% e ee 6 n ho a w p ile once b Mo east l % 58
aptop t in their own room
36%
%
36
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 25
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Two in four parents of children aged 5-7 agree that their child has been taught how to use the internet safely at school
One in four don’t know
One in four disagree
FACT - More than 90% of uk children use the inte The average child spends two hours a day online
hey
nt t e t n o ne c i l n o bout ffensive a l l e uld t nasty or o o w 1 d 8-1 orrying, e g a dren sidered w l i h c ho con
W
Sources:
26 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
UK Children’s Media Literacy, Ofcom, 2010 Monitor Trends Report, Childwise, 2010 Digital Lives, Childwise, 2010
ernet e
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FACTS & FIGURES
use
at a ll
10%
Where the internet is used by children aged 5-15
Do
not
ool
y
Onl
9%
ch at s
sewhere
Not home but el
6%
At home
75%
Four in five parents of children aged 5-15 trust their child to use the internet safely
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 27
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COMMENT
The PSHE debate − PSHE has polarised opinion within the education sector; while some are convinced that it should be a mandatory subject with discrete lessons, others call it a non-subject and a waste of time. Education expert Loic Menzies offers a fresh perspective I recently reached the conclusion that a lot of what is contained in the PSHE curriculum simply isn’t suited to discrete PSHE lessons. While areas like sex and relationships education (SRE), drugs awareness and financial skills undoubtedly require dedicated teaching time, in my opinion, many other topics should instead be addressed across the curriculum as a whole and through the general ethos and culture of the school. As a qualified secondary citizenship teacher, I have long argued for the importance of discrete citizenship provision. However, unlike most of the citizenship curriculum, skills like being able “to listen to other people, and play and work cooperatively” are not suited to such lessons. That’s not because listening to others isn’t one of the most important things a child can learn – it undoubtedly is. It is simply that discrete provision is not the most effective way of teaching it. But how do we decide which parts of the curriculum should be delivered discretely and which should be taught through a school’s overarching cultural principles? Parts that need dedicated lessons are those that require children to learn how to skilfully
28 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
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− a new way
of thinking
evaluate information in order to make decisions. This applies to basics like crossing a road: children need to learn what steps to take when deciding whether to cross. We cannot simply teach this through positive relationships and a good school culture. Similarly, as children grow older, if they are to decide whether to take drugs, have sex or take out a loan, they need to understand a particular set of information, to have the skills to look at different options and the ability to evaluate risk. These elements of the curriculum should therefore be taught discretely by specially trained teachers as part of a statutory requirement. In contrast, listening, playing and working co-operatively results from everything that goes on in school (and at home). So, every time someone speaks in class, teachers should ensure that pupils listen and respond positively in order to create the right culture so that it becomes a norm. Lessons should be planned with a mixture of individual and group activities so that pupils can learn to co-operate. It is by doing this that schools will nurture the type of pupils that the PSHE curriculum strives to create. Interestingly, the national curriculum’s “values, aims and
purposes” put developmental priorities right at the heart of the curriculum. The curriculum only has two aims. One of them is “to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life”. The other is that the curriculum should develop pupils’ “self-esteem and emotional wellbeing and help them to form and maintain worthwhile and satisfying relationships.” I fail to understand why these aims need to be more or less restated in the PSHE curriculum. It merely lends to the popular criticism that PSHE is “everything that doesn’t fit anywhere else”. Ideally, these aspects should fit in every subject and every area of school life. Worryingly, the motivation for drawing them out and putting them into one subject seems to be that they’re not being done well enough elsewhere. If this is the case then all that is being done
is that another space is being created to do something badly. Furthermore, schools are setting themselves up for inconsistency. Think of it like this: sometimes a school’s ethos and culture already reflect and inspire desired ways of being. In such cases there is no need to teach them discretely. In others, the school’s ethos and culture conflicts with them. In these cases PSHE lessons teach values and beliefs that are not backed up by everyday common experience. This makes them meaningless and hypocritical. Ultimately, pigeon-holing developmental and social priorities leaves the way open for dry, socially un-fulfilling teaching in other subjects and a school environment that forgets about wellbeing because, “after all it’s being done elsewhere”. Let’s instead focus our efforts on positive school cultures and on skilled, discrete and statutorily enforced provision of the aspects that really need discrete delivery.
Loic was head of citizenship, history and social sciences at St. George’s R.C School, Westminster before joining the faculty of education at Canterbury Christ Church University. He also works with schools, charities and policy makers as an education and youth development consultant and has recently co-authored Ethos and Culture in Schools in Challenging Circumstances. He blogs about education and youth issues at www.lkmconsulting.co.uk.
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 29
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Glamour girl Barbie comes under the scrutiny of teachers Christopher Terry and Lisa Wishart-Terry as they ponder what influence she has on the young girls of today In the last 50 years, Barbara Millicent Roberts has built up a remarkable CV. As well as serving in the US army and orbiting the moon, she has become a trained doctor, earned a full pilot’s license and competed as a NASCAR driver. And in spite of being vastly over-qualified, she has still managed to hold down a regular job flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Barbie, as she’s better known, is without doubt one of the outstanding women of her age. The small-town girl from Willows, Wisconsin first began turning
heads when she arrived in toy stores in 1959. Based on a rather more adult-oriented German doll named Lilli, this first Barbie was developed by Mattel founder Ruth Handler after she had noticed that the toy market didn’t cater for the games she had seen her children improvise. Rather than play with the childlike dolls available at the time, they seemed to enjoy using paper dolls to role play grown up scenarios. Ruth then hit upon the idea of creating a toy specially designed to enable them to act out their dreams for the future.
I can be... 30 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
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FEATURE
And so she created Barbie, a doll that “allows girls to imagine themselves as a mermaid to a movie star, a fairy to a fashionista, and a princess to a president.” ‘Media mogul’ might also be added to that list, given the long list of products she has released. While the character’s all-American back story was dreamed up for a range of books released back in the 1960s, the Barbie brand has since been applied to countless magazines, films, games and movies, not to mention the numerous advertising campaigns used to promote them. But what
effect do these products have on the young girls they are aimed at and what messages do they convey? “She (Barbie) always represented the fact that a woman has choices,” said creator Ruth Handler, a pioneering businesswoman who died in 2002 at the age of 85. “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be.” Barbie’s critics, however, point out that girls can in fact be anything they want except Barbie. “Barbie’s neck is twice as long as
Media Mogul
Barbie by Lisa Wishart-Terry and Christopher Terry
© Spigoo
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 31
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FEATURE the average human’s which would make it impossible to hold up her head”, says a study from the University of Boston. And if she were scaled up to human proportions, it is said she would boast vital statistics of 44-17-40 and measure 7ft tall. The impossibility of measuring up to this ideal of womanhood has prompted some to call Barbie an unsuitable and unhealthy role model, especially for young girls coming to terms with their developing bodies. There has even been talk of a ‘Barbie syndrome’ - the name given to the so-called cultural phenomenon of girls and women developing an unhealthy obsession with looking like the doll. Over the years Mattel has let out Barbie’s wasp-like waist and reduced her breast size to more realistic proportions, but still the doll represents an unattainable ideal. The benchmarks set by Barbie in the fields of education and career are nearly as difficult to achieve, but are seen in a very different light. In 2010, with the backing of the White House Project – a group dedicated to helping women reach leadership positions – Mattel has released their latest President Barbie. Like astronaut Barbie, who reached the moon years before Neil Armstrong managed it, President Barbie is at least one small step ahead of what women have been allowed to achieve in the real world. Its release coincides with the launch of her 10 Women to Watch list and a major drive to champion the doll’s inspirational qualities. Marie Wilson, president of the Whitehouse Project and one of the women featured in the inaugural 32 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
list of leading ladies, is effusive about the effectiveness of the doll. “Little girls have had the opportunity to lead the country from their living rooms and bedrooms,” she says, “or get out their Barbie and Ken dolls and call a joint session of Congress.” Barbie certainly seems to have come a long way from the days when her voice recording featured the phrase “Math class is tough!” (later amended to “Math class can be hard, but not impossible!”), with her CV of 120-plus
© Marcin Wichary
© Mauren Veras © Mauren Veras
professions featuring plenty examples of breaking into male-dominated industries. But still the doll has its critics, eager to condemn the fact that Dr Barbie is only qualified to care for children and that the recent computer engineer Barbie is forced to type out her code on a pink laptop. So what’s next for the indefatigable 51-year old? For the woman who beat Hilary Clinton to the Oval Office, anything is possible. But no matter what she achieves, it seems certain that she will fail to keep everyone happy.
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CITIZENSHIP The Police Community Clubs
magazine for schools
ONLINE WWW.THECITIZENSHIPMAGAZINE.CO.UK There’s much more to our website than just the latest issue… News – Our news section provides you with all of the latest developments in PSHE and citizenship Twitter – Social media enthusiasts can follow the @Citizenship_Mag account and have updates sent straight to their own home page Blog – Our editor, Luke Davis, and a host of guest writers offer their advice, reflections and insights e-Subscription service – We offer a free subscription service that enables readers to receive a round-up of the latest news as well as links to new features and resources
Our website also makes it even easier for you to get in touch and contribute to Citizenship. We welcome anyone who wishes to provide feedback, suggestions or resource contributions. All methods of contact can be found on the site.
The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 33
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Q&A
Robin Blake Ofcom head of media literacy
Media watchdog Ofcom has had a responsibility to promote media literacy in the UK since 2003. We spoke to the man leading the charge about the work being done and the challenges that lie ahead
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What exactly is Ofcom’s role in promoting media literacy in the UK? Our role in promoting media literacy is to help people use, understand and create media and communications. We try and empower people so that they can use the internet safely and securely. Young people, for instance, need help to recognise that when they go onto the internet they need to be critical of the information they find. The old saying that we used to have in our youth was ‘You should never believe what you read in the papers’. The trouble is that young people believe what they see online to be entirely true and patently not all of it is. We need to try and wake people up to that fact. Ofcom research shows that one in four 12-15-year-olds think that search engines only return results from websites with truthful information while 70 percent of children aged 8-11 believe that the information found on blogs and sites like Wikipedia is all or mostly true. Clearly work needs to be done to help children interrogate the information they find. People often rely on trusted brands when they go online. If you are shopping on the internet you may go on to the sites of brands like M&S, Boots and Amazon and you will get a certain reassurance that you are secure and that you’ll get the goods that you want. But the trouble is, people also assume
that search engines like Google do some kind of mitigation or quality control between the internet and the viewer and assume that the sites listed in the results of a search have had their content approved in some way, which just isn’t the case. People generally don’t understand how search engines work or what it means when a site is on the first page of results. What role should schools then take in educating children about how to interpret what they find on the internet? Schools have a huge part to play in this and yet it’s not a formal part of every school’s curriculum. The good schools are doing this work but, as we know, that’s not always the case. Not all teachers themselves feel as if they have the skills or confidence to go into what they sometimes feel is the young person’s territory. But while young people may have the technological skills to use the equipment, they don’t always have the life skills to recognise what they are seeing and take informed decisions – teachers should be instilling that. Clearly there are some centres of excellence, some teachers who are doing fantastic work in that area, but it’s patchy and I think more work needs to be done. Does Ofcom have a direct relationship with schools in terms of developing their media literacy approach? We don’t connect directly with the
schools. What we do is work with the organisations that are working with the schools and give them the information they need about young people’s attitudes and behaviours regarding media and technology. We work with organisations like Becta, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, Childnet International and academics doing work in this area. What we don’t do is set ourselves out as pedagogical experts in the field. As any teacher will tell you, there are lots of initiatives, schemes and resources being made available by a huge range of groups. Do you think there is a lack of a joined up approach to media literacy? There are two sides to that argument. Some people say let a hundred flowers bloom because each of them will be speaking potentially to a different audience in a different way. The key is to make sure that the quality of the message of each of those providers is good, accurate and timely. That said, we recognise that lots of parents are confused by the number of sites giving them advice and so, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and CEOP have created a one stop shop which all government agencies and organisations will be encouraging parents to visit. They’ve created a code called Zip it, Block and Flag it to help change behaviour of young people around using the internet. Over a period of time I think we’ll find that that one stop shop will grow and
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Q&A develop to become the destination of choice. The message will be go to the CEOP site – that’s where you will find authoritive and effective information for use in the classroom and at home. I imagine it’s very difficult to keep up with the rate at which media technology and consumer habits develop. Do you often feel like you are one step behind? We are horizon scanning all the time to see what new technology is appearing in different parts of the world so we can be prepared and ready. I think anybody in this environment would be wrong to say they are completely in control of what’s going on and that they completely understand everything that has happened. Who would have thought five years ago that everybody would be tweeting like mad about things that nobody really is interested in, that social networking and Facebook would be as big as it is now? We were talking a while ago about virtual worlds – where have they gone? Are location-based services going to be the next big thing? I think we will always be surprised by new technologies, but we have to come to terms with them before the next one comes steaming down. I’ve heard some teachers complain there is too much emphasis on internet safety and not enough on teaching children how to take advantage of the new opportunities
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available. Is this fair? I think it’s fair. I think that parents and teachers want children to reap the benefits that are available from using the internet. But they recognise there are associated risks. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about the huge benefits the internet can bring because when you are online you recognise that yourself. But it is true that sometimes you can scare people offline, and you can worry parents to a point where they might restrict unnecessarily young people’s activities online and that’s not helpful. Children in DE households (where the chief income earner is semi-skilled, unskilled or dependent on the state) have the least access to the internet at home. Is there a danger that there could be a cycle of ignorance in some homes? And should the approach to teaching children therefore include parent education as well? I don’t necessarily agree with this statement that it can be cyclical. If we look at DE households, they are often low income and often the adults in those households are in jobs where they don’t come across technology every day, so their level of understanding and awareness can be quite low. But I don’t think it is fair to say that all of the children in those homes will have the same disadvantage. They will have the advantages of going online at school and often they will have their own mobile
connectivity. But the last point that you make is a very fair one. There are various schemes being run to get PCs into low income homes but I also think there’s a huge opportunity for local schools to help parents by providing a place where they can come and get some basic training and I think every school should have that as part of their offering to build that school-parent partnership we are all talking about. What would you say to schools that are less enthusiastic about media literacy? If they don’t use all of their skills in helping children to understand the world in which they live, they are doing them a huge disservice. Twenty years ago we would have spoken about the sabre-toothed curriculum; a term which refers to a curriculum which doesn’t fulfil the needs of the culture within which the teachers are working. The same is true now with the huge opportunities being made available through media and telecommunications. And if schools continue to ignore the fact that their young people are growing up in this environment and will need to work in this environment, they are doing a huge disservice to their children. So wake up and smell the coffee. It’s here whether you like it or not and there are things you need to do in order to support your children and their parents to make the most of it, otherwise they will fall behind both socially and economically.
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KNOW THE RULES
Advertising to children The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for enforcing one of the strictest child advertising codes in the world, covering TV, print, the internet and more. But what exactly are the rules? Poor nutritional habits and unhealthy eating are not to be encouraged The advertising rules surrounding food have been significantly tightened in recent years. Advertisers are no longer allowed to encourage children to eat or drink near bedtime, to eat frequently throughout the day or to replace main meals with confectionery or snack foods. They can’t promote consumption of a food purely to get a promotional offer or encourage excessive consumption either. The sexualisation of children is strictly forbidden While some rules are open to interpretation, one thing is absolutely clear: sexualising children in an advertisement is inappropriate and will lead to ASA action. Fortunately, the sexualisation of children in advertisements is very rare. One recent breach, however, was found in an American Apparel ad that featured a young-looking model in a state of undress. Adverts must not exploit a child’s credulity, vulnerability or lack of experience As children lack life experience and are still developing their analytical powers, they are much more likely to believe what they read and see. For this reason, the ASA prohibits advertising that seeks to exploit their naivety. Children mustn’t be encouraged to make a nuisance of themselves A lot has been written about ‘pester power’, with shops and consumer brands having been accused of using the technique to boost sales. The ASA, however, is clear that advertisers must not attempt to undermine parental authority or encourage any form of nuisance behaviour. Advertisers are not allowed to encourage children to copy unsafe practices The rules mean that adverts can’t depict or encourage children to engage in dangerous behaviour or talk to strangers. Adverts that encourage the use of toy ovens or tools could potentially be dangerous too, so the producer has to ensure that the advert makes it clear that the objects in question are toys, and aren’t to be confused with the real thing. Advertisements of an adult nature must be suitably scheduled As well as ensuring that ads which are targeted at children are strictly regulated, the ASA also works hard to ensure that commercials aimed at adults do not cause harm or distress to children or young people. Ads on TV and radio for certain products (e.g. agerestricted video games or alcohol) or those that contain adult themes, must be scheduled away from programmes when children may be watching or listening.
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Carrot Cake It’s freezing cold, it’s dark on the way to school, it’s dark on the way home and things aren’t going to get any better until March. Go on, treat yourself to some carrot cake. And if your pupils do a good job baking it, maybe let them have a slice too
Ingredients for carrot cake
Ingredients for icing
1 cup castor sugar 1 cup plain flour 1 ½ cups grated carrots 2 eggs ½ cup olive oil ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon powder
25g margarine 25g cream cheese Lemon juice and icing sugar to taste
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HEALTHY EATING
Method 1. Preheat oven to 180째C (350째F)
6. Remove the cake from oven and allow to cool
2. Line a standard loaf tin or oblong cake tin with baking paper
7. Turn cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before icing
3. Place all ingredients into a bowl and beat well
8. For the icing, mix 25g of low fat margarine with a similar quantity of Philadelphia cheese, some lemon juice and icing sugar to taste
4. Pour mixture into cake tin 5. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean
Equipment
9. Spread over cake
Skills
Loaf tin or cake tin Using the oven Large bowl Cake icing Skewer Wire rack
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40 The Citizenship Magazine for Schools
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PUPILS’ CORNER
media influence The
Primary school teacher Christina Fenlon asks out what her pupils know about the media and ponders what effect it may be having on them The negative effect that the media has on children’s development has been well documented, but I have always believed that a lot of what we hear is exaggerated. The vast majority of pupils in my school are very active and enjoy sports, as well as enjoying the entertainment provided through modern media. I was interested to find out then if supposed media evils such as stereotyping, exposure to violence and commercial pressure were having any impact on the children. I began by asking a group of year 6 pupils for their understanding of the media. It didn’t surprise me that the answers given were very different. Only two pupils out of the five that I spoke to knew what the term media meant, though the others were close with guesses of gaming or computers. One of the girls showed a good understanding of what media entails, focusing on TV, celebrities and the paparazzi. Encouragingly, she pointed out that the media had a big influence on people’s views of others. When I asked the children which
TV programmes they watch, the girls’ answers included America’s Next Top Model, Big Brother and Hollyoaks, while the boys said that they watched a range of programmes from sport coverage to documentaries. However, most of them added that they preferred playing on their Xboxs and Play Stations to watching TV. Neither the boys nor the girls said that they read newspapers or magazines regularly, with the exception of a few boys who checked the sports section of their family’s newspapers once every so often. Having heard so many references to brand names, I decided to look a little closer at what impact advertising may already have had on the children at this young age. As I had already heard a few children debating who was best by talking about their possessions, my idea was to ask them to draw a picture of themselves and write a sentence about what they think makes them special. As I had anticipated, virtually all of the children thought they were special because of the gadgets,
jewellery or toys that they own. Particularly when it came to the girls, they were under the impression that it was necessary for them to wear jewellery in order to look pretty – still quite shocking to find at such an early age. Of course it’s impossible for me to prove a direct link between their answers and the influence of advertisers, but still, it made me realise how important it is that they realise that possessions don’t transfer value on to the owner and understand advertisers’ objectives. In my opinion, the answer is to effectively teach media literacy throughout the curriculum and from an early an age as possible. Given that children under the age of eight have been shown to have difficulty differentiating between adverts and programme content, it’s certainly not something that can be taught in just a couple of dedicated lessons. After all, if it’s a given that children will spend hours consuming media every week, why shouldn’t it be just as routine that they will receive lessons on how to interpret the messages aimed at them? The Citizenship Magazine for Schools 41
IN
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MMUNI O
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BARNEY & ECHO FROM THE POLICE COMMUNITY CLUBS
AT BR
I
The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain in partnership with Community Initiatives Associates helps to educate children about internet safety by delivering the Barney & Echo Citizenship Project to schools The Bad Apples: Barney Says Let’s Talk about Anti-Social Behaviour is the latest title in the range of Barney and Echo educational resources for schools.
The book was developed to help teachers and parents introduce primary school children to the topic of anti-social behaviour in an age-appropriate manner,
enabling pupils to understand both the nature of the problem and the damage it can cause. Its release follows new research that reveals just how important it is to develop new methods of tackling nuisance offending. It has been estimated that a staggering 3.5 million incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to the police last year which, according to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, accounts for only a quarter of the true total. Aimed at pupils in key stage 1-2, The Bad Apples aims to counter the problem by influencing children at an early age. The book asks pupils to follow the adventures of Barney Eagle, Echo Squirrel and their friends Digsby, Spike and Dizzy as they encounter vandalism, intimidation and drunkenness in the normally peaceful surroundings of Treetop Forest. The mixture of puzzles and activities that punctuate the
narrative then offer them the chance to consider their own thoughts on the issues raised which they can then discuss with others in the group. In addition to the resource itself, all schools will benefit from the Bad Apples schools programme pack including colourful and informative posters, sets of lapel stickers to be worn by pupils, a dramatisation of the book and extra lesson plans to be found online on our dedicated website www.barneyecho.co.uk. There are also four other books in the series. The Magic Mirror addresses the dangers of drugs, tobacco and alcohol in a fun but informative way by looking at how a group of friends cope with harmful substances. A Friendship Made tackles issues relating to bullying and vandalism, and examines what life would be like in a society where people have no respect for each other or the environment. Echo’s New Watch approaches the dangers of knife crime within the social environment of children and Caught in the Web tackles internet safety. These stories are intended to not only warn children about the dangers that they might be
confronted with in everyday life, but also to educate children and their carers on numerous subjects relating to the promotion of life skills. Included with each title is a play based upon the narrative of the book which pupils can use as part of their lesson plan, and posters which convey the message of each resource booklet. As part of promoting the citizenship programme, The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain and Community Initiatives Associates hold instructive conferences at which schools and organisations involved in sponsorship and support of the
programme can come together and share ideas. The latest conferences, which were held at venues across the north-west including Chester’s Guildhall and Liverpool Football Club, were a huge success with guest speakers from the police, a healthy schools co-ordinator, the ambulance service, fire service and interest groups. For more information please go to www.barneyecho.co.uk. To see additional projects that The Police Community Clubs Great Britain are involved in visit www.policecommunityclubs.org.
www.diageo.com
T247 are proud to sponsor the Internet Safety Project of the Year which aims to highlight awareness around the dangers of sharing personal information with strangers and to help students surf the web safely. A trusted technology provider, IT247 partners with schools to help improve learning in a secure and safe way. Given the vital importance of IT, IT247’s commitment is to support and strengthen IT resources in schools so that students can access the best of breed technology throughout their school life.
www.it247.com “We are working with our people, customers and partners to help champion sustainable IT and deliver competitive advantage through reduced costs, improved efficiency and enhanced brand value and reputation.” James Rigby, UK Managing Director
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CRIMINAL RECORDS BUREAU [CRB] DISCLOSURE
Including the Vetting & Barring Scheme The process made easy Are you a company, teacher, nurse, child minder, sports coach, home tutor, volunteer or one of the thousands of people who need to obtain a CRB Disclosure? Whatever your role, if you or your staff/volunteers have unsupervised contact with children and young people – we can help. The Police Community Clubs of Great Britain is a registered body under the Criminal Records Bureau [CRB] and as such can provide all the documentation and support administration to secure Criminal Records Bureau [CRB] Disclosures for you. Our clients are single applicants through to multi-national companies and national governing bodies of sport and we are a leading provider in the UK. All our team are serving or retired police officers and provide a wealth of knowledge when risk-assessing Disclosures on your behalf.
If you wish to engage the Police Clubs CRB Service or wish to discuss further: Please call on – 01237 471 615 E-mail: policecc@aol.com
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