House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee inquiry: Media literacy
This submission is supported by Policy@Manchester
Dr Jo Hickman Dunne is a Research Fellow in Social Media and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing at The University of Manchester.
Jade Davies is a postgraduate researcher at The University of Manchester, interested in understanding and addressing disparities in young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Dr Louise Black is a Research Fellow at The University of Manchester focussing on adolescent mental health in the general population.
Dr Margarita Panayiotou is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education at The University of Manchester focusing on adolescent mental health and social media.
Dr Ola Demkowicz is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education at The University of Manchester, focusing on mental health and development in adolescence.
Response to Question 6: What is the role of formal education in relation to media literacy?
1.1 Formal education has a role to play in helping young people to make sense of and navigate their daily online experiences, not just simply those experiences that are deemed most ‘high risk’ or alarming. On a day-to-day basis, most young people are not exposed to extreme or obvious harms but are exposed to, for example, peer conflict on social media; the need to ‘manage’ their online profiles and anxiety over being negatively judged; and the need to negotiate social norms versus parent and societal expectations of appropriate screen time.
1.2 In our qualitative focus group research with young people, they have told us that they struggle to manage how much time they spend online, even when they would prefer not to be on their phones (Hickman Dunne et al., accepted/in press). Adolescent girls especially have also told us that they want more information about what they are viewing in terms of edited content (Demkowicz et al., 2025), and feel that the kind of guidance, or space, to have those conversations with supportive adults is not provided for them. Most often, the current focus of media literacy in the classroom is on online harms, at the expense of more subtle, everyday experiences that young people are trying to navigate.
1.3 Currently, progress in this area is impeded by a distinct negative narrative around young people’s use of digital and social media. For example, our research shows that almost all (98%) newspaper articles discussing adolescent social media use cover potential harms, compared to only 16% covering potential benefits (Davies et al., 2025/under review). This is despite young people themselves often describing the importance of both harms and benefits. These media narratives matter because they shape how adults respond to young people’s experiences, including what is taken seriously, what is overlooked, and what kind of support is made available. When negative narratives dominate the media sphere, we risk shutting down opportunities for open, honest, and supportive conversations with young people about their social media experiences.
2 (Question 6.b) What interventions are needed to support the delivery of media literacy education in schools, for example changes to the national curriculum and to teacher training?
2.1 Progress is hindered by the fact that supporting adults (i.e., teachers and parents) do not feel well equipped to support young people – and we know from discussions that young people themselves recognise the gap in knowledge and narratives around social media. Feedback from teachers and parents at a recent webinar suggests that supporting adults need guidance and support to:
2.2 This points to the need for appropriate and up-to-date teacher training, to support teachers to provide adequate guidance and advice for young people, alongside more nuanced messaging around social media, and media literacy initiatives that address young people’s everyday needs.
3 (Question 6.d) What are the opportunities to engage children and young people in media literacy programmes outside formal education?
3.1 There is a growing impetus for more balanced approaches, that can engage more productively with young people about their social media experiences. A more balanced approach can match young people’s needs in thinking about how they navigate and act as discerning consumers on social media and this can complement formal educational efforts by targeting social norms.
3.2 Alongside education about online harms, young people need to be provided with appropriate forums to discuss more subtle experiences. These interventions need to happen much earlier, given that young people are accessing online spaces and social media at much younger ages. Having conversations with young people about the issues they face online, only when they reach secondary school, and often through isolated one-off sessions, is simply too late.
References
April 2025
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