ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOURS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN TOWARDS THE MEDIA ACCORDING TO THEIR CHOICES OF MEDIA LITERACY LESSON

Quirements and needs expected from the media varies in terms of different social categories. it is a well known fact that domestic and foreign studies in academic literature in the field of children and communication generally concentrate on the television and violence relationship. however, additionally, it will be beneficial to determine the basic characteristics of the relationship between media and children in particular who can be said to be more passive compared to adult individuals in the presence of media messages. on a general assessment of the results derived from communication studies to date, they indicate that the effects of media can be more extensive in children. in response to the importance of this issue, as of 2007-2008 school year, “media literacy” lesson has been included in the primary education curriculum by the ministry of national education in order to enable children to take a more active recipient position towards the media. this study fundamentally aimed to investigate the primary school age children’s attitudes towards the media and viewing behaviours; and to determine whether the attitude and behaviours of the students who take “media literacy lesson” differ from those who do not. the field research was conducted in a primary school in ankara, turkey controlled by the ministry of national education using face to face survey method adhering to a questionnaire. it is estimated that the data obtained and results emerging from the study will not only determine the relationship of primary school age children with media and primarily television, but also offer an analysis for organization and bodies working to guide this relationship in a healthy way, and constitute a benchmark regarding the efficiency of the media literacy lesson.