Have you heard about “media literacy?” There’s a big push around the country to incorporate “media literacy” into K-12 classrooms. This is an effort to teach our students to NOT think critically. Many states have passed laws giving guidelines to public schools for incorporating curriculum in their districts. It’s not truly about media or learning how to be safe online, it is about teaching students which sources of media can and should be trusted and which sources are “misinformation/disinformation.” We saw very clearly with Covid how the media was weaponized by politicians and leaders in our country (and beyond) and the extreme censorship against any media sources or people who dared to share independent information and truth.
California recently passed a bill making “media literacy” mandatory in all public schools.
Washington state passed “media literacy and digital citizen” laws in 2016, 2017 and has an “expansion” bill that passed the state senate in 2023, but did not pass the house.
California’s AB 873 will require public schools to incorporate “media literacy” and “digital citizenship” into every aspect of education for k-12 students. The lawmakers claim this is in response to “misinformation.” Teachers will be required to train the students in “media literacy”…the same teachers that are indoctrinating children with gender theory and critical race theory. The bill was passed with bipartisan support.
Washington state passed 5449 in 2017, requiring OSPI (office of superintendent of public instruction) to establish guidelines and recommended curriculum for Washington public schools in teaching “media literacy and digital citizenship.”
SB 5449 was passed in the 2017 session with strong bipartisan support – many Republicans voted for this law.
Why are Republicans voting for “media literacy” in states that don’t need their help to pass these laws?
SB 5626 passed the Washington state senate in 2023. The bill is co-sponsored by a republican and all but 4 republicans voted yes.
The “media literacy” agenda is not just a blue state problem. The Florida legislature has been trying for years (unsuccessfully) to advance an “information literacy” bill which has the same intentions but on a smaller scale to the bills we see coming out of CA, WA and NY.
We are going to see a huge push for “media literacy” policy across the country in 2024 legislative sessions. What is the status of media literacy in your state? In a search engine type: “Media literacy [state name] legislation”. Let us know if you find something and we will do a bill analysis and have our team watch the bill and testify if needed. Send us an email: info@conservativeladiesofamerica.com