Media Literacy

Girls Get the Message ^®
Through the Girls Get the Message^® media literacy and advocacy curriculum, girls are encouraged to critically view how girls and women are portrayed in the media, and to advocate for more realistic and positive depictions.  Through analyzing and evaluating a variety of media and producing their own communication, they develop their abilities and skills in such areas as:

• Critical Thinking: exercising sound reasoning in understanding and making complex choices about external media messages;
• Creativity: developing, implementing and communicating new ideas and messages to others;
• Communication: understanding, managing and creating effective oral, written and multi-media communication in a variety of forms;
• Collaboration: demonstrating teamwork and leadership while adopting various roles and responsibilities and working productively with others.

In designing their own community action projects, girls employ a program model composed of the following steps: 

• Assessing social and public policy issues in their communities.
• Working together to choose an issue on which to focus.
• Researching and documenting their chosen issue using technology.
• Going out into their community to gather diverse perspectives.
• Formulating a plan of action to address the issue.
• Working with local partners to develop and implement a strategy that uses media and technology to illustrate and raise awareness of the issue.
• Disseminating and publicizing their production to members of the media, policy makers, and the general public.
• Engaging their peers, families, and communities in advocacy campaigns to foster change.
• Reflecting on their results and lessons learned from the process.
• Sharing their experiences with girls at other sites.