An optional media education course is proposed to be introduced in primary classes as of this September. At these classes, the students will be explained what mass media are and how the media sources should be used, director of the Independent Journalism Center Nadine Gogu said in a debate at IPN, staged by the Platform for Active Citizenship and Human Rights Partnership (CAP).

Nadine Gogu stated that media experts went to a number of education institutions and explained to pupils how the media work, what media are and what critical analysis is. A curriculum for first-fourth grades started to be worked out last year and the Ministry of Education is to have the final say on it. This course could be piloted in ten schools this autumn already. The second stage of the project will cover the fifth-ninth and tenth-twelfth grades.

“We hope this course will catch attention and will be useful. The goal is to make the pupils ask oneself questions and not to believe everything blindly when taking a newspaper in hands or watching TV,” stated Nadine Gogu.

The media expert also said that it is very important for all the children to be trained from childhood how to use the media, when to publish photos and when not to publish some. The Internet cannot be blocked and, even if some of the websites contain +18 warnings, these arouse curiosity even more. There are social networking sites on which minors cannot register, but these avoid the restrictions and anyway register. The children should be taught to put themselves questions before taking action.