Using media literacy as a tool for positive body image
Media literacy is a vital life skill, particularly in the age of the internet, clickbait culture and social media influencer authority bias (where we risk linking authority about a subject with how many followers someone has on social media, regardless of if they have the required skills, expertise and knowledge required to comment on the subject).
Media literacy helps children and young people develop critical thinking skills which can act as a buffer to some of the messages they receive in media and popular culture about bodies, health, diet, exercise - and everything!
These skills aren’t just a useful tool in promoting positive body image, but they’re also essential skills in other academic subject areas, such as English, Science and ICT.
What is media literacy and why do we need it?
MEDIA LITERACY is a skill that involves thinking critically about the media we are consuming. The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) defines it as the ability to access, analyse, evaluate, create and act using all forms of communication.
The world we live in today offers us numerous and diverse platforms to access information and engage with different forms of media. What’s more, the barriers to this plethora of information are virtually non-existent, often reachable with one swipe on a device carried around in our pockets. This instant access to hundreds of thousands of different types of media content can be a hugely useful tool - but it also carries with it the potential for harm.
Media literacy teaches students how to engage critically with the barrage of information they consume, whether that be online, on television, radio, in print and more.
Media literacy education teaches skills which translate into real-life situations, enabling kids to become critical thinkers, considered and competent communicators, and informed, responsible members of society.
It’s also a skill we can use as adults to decode some of the information we are consuming ourselves. And it’s a vital tool in our Body Happy Toolkit, to help build resilience to the many negative body messages prevalent in the cultural landscape all around us.
We are all aware of the pressing importance of keeping young people safe online – media literacy education is one way we can help do this.
We’re a body image organisation, why are we talking about media literacy?
Body image is how we think and feel about our bodies, and in turn how we treat them. Negative body image is common amongst school-aged children and young people, and can significantly affect health and wellbeing, alongside learning, participation, aspirations and attainment. Find out more about why body image matters here.
Tailoring school curriculums and environments to nurture body esteem can have a positive impact on pupil outcomes, both in terms of academic attainment, as well as physical and emotional wellbeing.
Our body image is influenced and impacted by many different factors, including cultural and environmental factors.
Appearance and body ideals embedded within media content is an example of an environmental factor which can influence our body image. Diet culture – a system of beliefs that idolises thinness, weight loss and dieting, equating it to health and moral virtue – is rife amongst all forms of media, and its messages negatively impact body image (click here for a refresher on diet culture).
In order to help young people build better body image, they need to be equipped to engage critically with the messages they encounter in the media around bodies and appearance. This also extends to the mass of (mis)information online around health and ‘wellness’.
Empowering students to evaluate such information will not only help their own personal self-esteem and body image but will impact the way they treat others too.
Media literacy as a vital life skill
Social media can have a negative impact on adolescents’ mental health, including self-esteem and body image (Alfonson-Fuertes et al. 2023). Negative body image is associated with mental health issues such as depression, low mood and decreased self-esteem (Gillen, 2015), alongside an increased likelihood of developing disordered eating behaviours or an eating disorder (Goldschmidt et al. 2016l Tiggermann & Clark, 2016).
With the rise of fake news, misinformation, clickbait, influencer culture, filters and AI generated imagery etc, it is essential that children and young people are given the skills to explore the nuances, intention, influence and impact of the increasingly sophisticated media they come across. This is a skill that is, arguably, just as essential as learning to tie their shoelaces or tell the time.
If we want to foster positive body image in young people, it is essential that we help children and young people develop the skills to critically engage with the messages they consume on social media - and elsewhere - in a way that supports and prioritises their mental health.
Image taken from our Instagram post about media literacy. Follow us there at @bodyhappyorg for more resources like this.
This image is taken from our post on media literacy over on Instagram.
“Reporting science is difficult, and I would always be very dubious of any article that described one study and then makes sweeping statements and presents them as facts. This is not how science works and research is done. We don’t present conclusions as truths based on just one study.”
Media literacy conversations with children can start as early as toddlerhood, when children can start to think about how a book, story or cartoon might make someone feel (eg. “How do you think Daddy Pig feels when Peppa makes fun of his tummy? How might that make someone else with a big tummy feel to hear that?”).
As children get older, they will start be able to grasp concepts such as:
🎓 The importance of verifying sources of information and distinguishing between credible and unreliable sources.
🎓 The role that social media algorithms play in how we consume content online.
🎓 The impact of photo manipulation, filters and AI generated images on our understanding of a topic, and the way we think and feel about bodies.
All of these concepts are included in both our Upper KS2 and our KS3 Media Literacy lessons available to download in our Teaching Hub.
A snapshot of our Upper KS2 media literacy lesson. View the full sample here and purchase the lesson from our Teaching Hub here.
Media literacy skills explored in a lesson devoted to the subject at school, but it shouldn’t be confined to the classroom. Critical thinking skills can be embedded in our lives everywhere, from conversations about the packaging on the food in our cupboards to gently pointing out anti-fat bias during a family movie (eg. “That’s interesting, that’s an example of anti-fat bias, how do you think the character felt in that situation?”)
A snapshot of our KS3 media literacy lesson. View the full sample here and purchase the lesson from our Teaching Hub here.
Top tips for developing media literacy skills at home:
💡 Take an active interest in the type of media your child is consuming. For example, if they’re using TikTok, join the app yourself and look up some of the accounts your child is following. Use the media they are using to start conversations - these don’t always have to be in person. For teens, especially, conversations started via text or instant messaging, can be a good way to broach a subject. This might look like sharing a video or post that you’ve found funny or inspiring, and asking them “What do you think of this?” etc. Always approach conversations with curiosity and be prepared to listen - this isn’t about you delivering a lecture, but instead about your young person having a chance to flex their own creative thinking skills.
💡 Embed questions into your day-today. For example, “Hmmm this is interesting. I wonder why they chose to put this particular picture on the front of this multi-vitamin pack? Why do you think that is?”
💡 Be prepared to be challenged. Media literacy isn’t about winning an argument, it’s about understanding that there are different ways to view a piece of media and that due to our lived experience, our family background, our culture - and many different factors - it’s rare that any two people will receive a piece of media in exactly the same way. It can be an empowering revelation for children and young people to know that grown-ups aren’t always right and can make mistakes too - and this can include, parents, teachers, doctors and journalists… and some of the people responsible for making and sharing the very media they may encounter in their lives!
Some media literacy starter questions:
The following questions be a useful starting point in any media decoding activity.
⭐ Who made this piece of media?
⭐ What’s the purpose of it?
⭐ What techniques are they using to persuade or engage us?
⭐ How might someone different to you think about this piece of media?
⭐ What could another point of view be? Is there an opinion or point of view that is left out?
If you found this blog post useful, considering forwarding or sharing it with someone else who will also benefit from it! Sharing our work is an important act of body image advocacy and helps us reach more people.
Molly Forbes is the author of the books Body Happy Kids and Every Body, and the founder and Executive Director of The Body Happy Organisation CIC. Molly’s interest in decoding text developed during her BA degree in English Literature, and was put into practise during her postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism. Molly has worked in the media as a journalist, researcher, producer and writer, and in online and digital marketing, for over two decades. She now uses her 20 years of experience to help others develop their own critical thinking skills as a tool in the promotion of positive body image in children and young people.