Media literacy should help audiences analyze how the media position audiences in relation to the social order, how the media invite audiences to make sense of the world, and how the media establish what it means to be a citizen. Children will become active citizens capable of exercising thoughtful choice only if they are presumed to be capable of doing so. Arguments about children’s vulnerability tend to be used as a justification for denying them a voice and participation (Buckingham, 2003). Media literacy in the new Latin American democracies and in the old ones as well, must promote and reinforce democratic values among the new generations. It must also be a space for a critical analysis and, at the same time, a site that allows students to move beyond the school towards their social engagement in the public life. Students have to believe that change is possible and that they have some role to play. And this is precisely why, media literacy is education for democracy.
