Young need education on media: Br Kelvin

Sydney
25 May 2003

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Young need education on media: Br Kelvin

By Damir Govorcin

Effective media education is necessary to help young people to be more discerning in the face of a constant barrage of conflicting messages, says Br Kelvin Canavan, executive director of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Sydney.

To mark World Communications Day, Br Kelvin has re-issued Life in the Media Age, which he wrote 25 years ago - for World Communications Day in 1978. It focuses on the need for young people to become more appreciative, critical and discriminating in their use of mass media.

Br Kelvin says the information in the document is even more relevant today, and has made a strong plea for the revitalisation of media education in schools.

“It’s time to redouble our efforts so that students develop the skills to be discriminating and to sort out the wheat from the chaff,” he said.

“I want the media to enrich young people’s lives and help them grow to their full potential.”

Br Kelvin feels the overcrowded curriculum could be a reason for the declining commitment to media education, or maybe the issue of the all-pervasive media is too much of a challenge for busy teachers.

He pointed to the popularity of media courses in the 1970s and 1980s when Catholic education offices provided a variety of programs and print materials for use in schools.

When research revealed that students spent more time watching TV than attending school, “the combined forces of government, education authorities, parent groups and Churches mobilised to introduce some form of media studies into schools and homes”, he said.

Br Kelvin is aware his call for greater emphasis on media education will be resisted in some quarters.