Unlike some states, California does not have an official media literacy curriculum to equip students with the critical thinking and digital citizenship skills needed to navigate social media and digital platforms.
But two bills are pending in this legislative session. Assembly Bill 873 introduced by Marc Berman (D–Menlo Park) calls for integrating media literacy education into core subjects like English Language Arts and Social Studies for K-12 students.
The legislation cites a Stanford study that shows middle school students struggle to distinguish advertisements from news stories, and also references the risks associated with misinformation.
Assembly Bill 787 was introduced by Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills) and aims to develop standards and best practices for teaching digital citizenship and media literacy.
Central Coast assemblymember Dawn Addis said, as a longtime teacher, she supports media literacy education in schools.
“It's important to me that our students have the skills that they need to be safe on the internet and to interact responsibly on social media,” Addis said.
The bills passed unanimously in the Assembly and are now in the Senate for consideration.
Addis said the legislation is a step forward.
“We want children to be able to interact with social media in a healthy way and in a way that they’re able to decipher misinformation and disinformation,” she said.
The bills define media literacy as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media which provides the foundation for digital citizenship and the skills needed to use social media in a responsible, healthy manner.
Social media use by young people is a national concern. The US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently issued an advisory about the effects of social media on children and adolescents – raising concerns about youth mental health and well-being. He called on the nation’s policymakers to take steps to support digital and media literacy, and to fund additional research.
You can follow California’s media literacy bills by going to legislature.ca.gov or contact your local representative.
