Ooh is that a text. Excuse me I'll have to get that.

The readings and the film Digital Nation (2010) gave me a lot to think about this week. One of the biggest conclusions I’ve come to is that details can’t bog us down because there are a lot. Should Media Literacy Education (MLE) have a political agenda; should it be a separate subject or taught within existing subjects; should we encourage production; should MLE be supported by media organizations? Having to have every question answered is being politically correct to a fault. Nichole Pinkard decided to act instead of taking part in a never-ending philosophical debate. She helped create a program. It may not be perfect, but it is helping students now. Yes, it will need adjustments, and yes, it may not be perfect for every student, but I would much rather be a part of that program then the multitude of studies being done on the topic of media and it’s affect on children. I would rather be involved with helping people then sitting and looking at the world cynically.

Cynicism is the problem that I had with Digital Nation. Yeah students, including myself, multitask when it isn’t the most efficient way. Yeah we probably have a shorter attention span, and many people don’t read books anymore. But how dare they define and stereotype everyone. Guess what? I, a young woman, read over 30 books this summer, and many of them I read on digital devices. I sometimes forget my phone at home and don’t really care that it’s missing. I write my notes in class with pen and paper, and I rarely bring my laptop with me. Maybe I’m an anomaly; it wouldn’t surprise me. I have hope for my generation. I think we will find balance.

Well, after taking a long break from writing on this post, I guess I should come back and finish it. Oh wait there’s a post on Facebook I have to go take care of.

Another problem I had with the film is the in-proportionate amount of time they spent on video games. Video games can be addicting and over-used. That’s not new. It’s been a part of video gaming since it was first created, actually before that. What’s the difference between the new video game shops and arcades of the 80s. Some kids spent all of their time in arcades trying to beat the high score, other kids – or adults – spend copious amounts of time playing dungeons and dragons or LARPing. This is nothing new, and people can always find a fantasy world to escape into if they really want to. You shouldn’t blame media for being abused by humans. You should blame people: parents, marketers and other business people, the kids themselves for accountabilities sake. Media can be good or bad.

I just felt like the overall mood of this film was negative, and I didn’t like that. I loved Henry Jenkin’s little speech, but he got nearly no airtime. That made me frustrated. The guy who was one of the narrators (the one that had a necklace when they showed a clip from a few decades ago) showed us an Asian country, Japan?, that sang songs and taught their students how to have good etiquette on the internet, but then he said that it wouldn’t work in the United States. Why? He never explained, which seemed odd to me. Technology is never going to go away. We are not all going to turn off texting or Facebook. Instead of complaining, we should learn how to use them better.

 Then at the very end he said, don’t worry I still have hope for digital media in the future. It felt like a band-aid to wrap up the film. I think he has grown up into one of the old fuddy-duddies that he used to make fun of. Do we all become that someday? I guess I’ll just be Bubbie and make Jewish foods.