Beyond Blame: Development of an online media literacy curriculum for violence prevention

The Centers for Disease Control has determined that “youth violence is a serious public health problem that can have a long-term impact on health and well-being,” disproportionately impacting communities of color.” Violence prevention efforts, including education programs, are recommended to combat the negative impacts of violence. A number of factors exist that may increase or decrease the possibility of youth experiencing or enacting violence. Media has long been identified by public health as a risk factor associated with violence yet media literacy programs are often not included in violence prevention efforts. Media literacy is recognized as a life skill to strengthen an individual's ability to resist negative and harmful messages that are powerfully packaged and promoted in the media. Children today live in an unprecedented media environment and media use by middle school children is widespread: 98% watch television, 78% use tablets, 67% interact with smart phones, 73% use computers, and 68% use gaming devices. Children ages 8-12 in the U.S. average 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens. Media literacy education can help children navigate their media environment by providing a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and interact with media, including video, social media, video games, film, and television. The goal of this SBIR Phase I is to review, update, and translate Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media, an evidence-based media-literacy violence prevention curriculum for middle school students, formerly delivered in-person, to an interactive, technology-based platform. This will accomplished through: (1) the establishment of an Expert Advisory Board comprised of experts in media literacy, diversity, inclusion and equity, media production, pediatrics, technology, and middle school curriculum; (2) the conduct of interviews with middle school teachers, principals and technology specialists to gather input on the feasibility and acceptability of the program; (3) the conduct of three iterative focus groups with middle school students to gather information on media use, program content, and technology use; (4) the content revision of Beyond Blame and creation of a full content outline; (5) development of a prototype that will undergo usability testing by middle school students and school personnel. At the end of Phase 1, an evaluation of a specifications document by the Expert Advisory Board will be provided to determine the design and content of the entire curriculum as acceptable, feasible, and usable with recommendations for a Phase II project that will ensure the critical need for media literacy and violence prevention is addressed and provides a viable, systematic commercialization plan.