Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Susan Baran
Second Faculty Advisor
Dr. Stanley Baran
Keywords
media literacy; intervention workshop; Disney; parents
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC-BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Americans are bombarded with media messages, whether they are playing with their cell phones, tablets, streaming from their laptop, or watching television. There is no escaping the messages of mass media, and children are being exposed earlier than ever before. Media literacy skills are a necessary part of life, and there is a lack of media education in public school systems, which leaves it up to parents to teach their own children. The purpose of this research study is to gauge the behavioral intent of parents to speak with their child about media literacy with and without receiving a media literacy intervention workshop. Participants volunteered to participate in the questionnaire through online platforms, and a randomizer was used to determine who would receive the media literacy intervention workshop. The data analysis shows that parents who received the media literacy intervention workshop do not have a higher likelihood to use their increased awareness in conversations about media with their children than those who did not receive the workshop. Parents who did receive the workshop do not believe that schools adequately teach media literacy and now know to hold schools accountable, while supplementing with conversations about media at home.
