Tessa Jolls, President and CEO, Center for Media Literacy
U.S. Department of Education, Character Education Symposium 2008
Today, the global online village is open 24/7. Prior to this global village emerging, the
local village provided children with a daily filter – adults — through whom youth learned about
values, lifestyles and points of view. Today, adults are largely absent in the global village and
technology filters are not enough. Children need to develop internalized processes to filter messages
and acquire content knowledge. Such process skills, grounded in values and character, will
enable youth to benefit from technology, to manage the risks they encounter, and to make responsible
choices on a lifelong basis. Children need to be formally taught these process skills, which facilitate
knowledge acquisition, problem solving and citizenship.