February 13, 2017

Through media exposure, our children view multiple acts of violence each week. They feel pressured to act and look older than they are. The values, behaviors and thinking they discover through TV, movies and online may be different from what they learn at home. And yet, they feel enormous pressure to identify with and accept a youth culture created by media'and to buy the products associated with it.

It's not as easy as turning off the TV. Media surrounds us everyday, from computers to billboards to commercials at movie theatres. We adults make decisions about what and how much media we use and what is fake or not. Our children need to learn how to do this, too, just as they learn math, spelling and other skills that will enable them to succeed in life.

As a parent, educator and chair of the New Mexico chapter of Media Literacy Now, I believe that a school curriculum inclusive of media literacy will ensure that our students have an opportunity to develop critical thinking skills in this area.

Please join me in writing or calling our state legislators this legislative session, asking that we give our state's children a chance to develop media literacy skills as part of their total education by supporting House Memorial 49. HM49 calls for a study committee to hold a hearing on media literacy and statewide discussions on education around safe media and technology use. It calls for development of best practices in media literacy education.

Pamela Pereyra
Taos, New Mexico

Media Literacy Now is the leading advocacy organization for state-level media literacy education. Through grassroots support and resources for state-by-state media literacy legislation we empower people to push for - and win - comprehensive media literacy education for their state's children.