Children’s mastering of the information society: A Maltese contribution
This paper discusses the impact which media, in particular television and computer, have on the lives of children. It argues that the type of influence which these media have depends on many factors such as age, socioeconomic background and upbringing, and hence any effort to address this issue must be specific to the target audience it is hoped to reach. In Malta, like in many other countries, media education is considered an important element in the development of the child. The National Minimum Curriculum (1999) gives media education its due importance and discusses it as one of the fourteen objectives which are “intended to contribute to the best possible formation of every person so that good Maltese and world citizens can be produced” (p.47). This paper gives an overview of a media education programme which is currently being implemented in some schools and argues that, by helping children acquire media literacy skills, educators would be empowering them and giving them skills by which they can share in the riches of the information society.