Visual skepticism

You've probably seen these as an e-mail attachment or on a website:

and

Are we teaching kids to be as critical of visual information as we are of written information? 

Are there some people to whom PhotoShop just should not be given?

Comments

[Paul C.]

"Are we teaching kids to be as critical of visual information as we are of written information?"

Excellent point, and goes a long way to suggest that teachers need to help students deconstruct visual images as well as the connotative language.

There's a 'blue' skunk lurking behind every shed.

[Miguel Guhlin]

How likely are we to see this photos in schools? Wouldn't they be construed as too controversial, too real? Maybe the teacher introducing them would be seen as pushing his/her conservative/liberal/fruitcake views on kids. Simply, why drop a pineapple bomb into the mix when it's just safer to drill-n-kill a la red, white, and blue two-piece number suggests?

Member of the fruitcake 4th party,
Miguel
;->

[Miguel Guhlin]

I meant "these photos"

Sigh.

[Cheryl Martin]

Great point, Doug. I can't tell you how many times I have replied to emails from ADULTS with a link to the debunk info on Snopes. If many adults' first reaction to this type of propaganda isn't skepticism, why would we be surprised when students swallow it whole? We definitely need to spend as much time on the visual discrimination skills as textual discrimination in our information literacy lessons. In fact, it might even be better to start with evaluating pictures and then move to text! I agree with Miguel that these particular photos would probably be deemed too controversial for most schools, but aren't there hundreds of others that are less likely to incite reactions from the powers that be? The one of you & Laura probably wouldn't cause too big of a stir...

[Doug Stoltz]

Hi Doug,
Good post. Actually, I posted on the same topic yesterday at sekolahbogorraya.edublogs.org after seeing the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest video, which is a classic example of why seeing isn't believing. This all points to the need for media literacy.
Regards,
Doug Stoltz

[Doug Johnson]

@ Paul,

And my concern is that teachers themselves have never been taught to do this.

Maybe why everyone needs at least one lesson in Photoshop to learn what the possibilities are.

Doug

@ Hi Miguel,

The sad thing is that kids will get plenty of exposure to these or similar images outside of school where they have their primary internet access.

I put both images of Palin and Obama so as not to favor one political party over another. Both have supporters who are not beyond cheap shots and stretching the truth.

All the best,

Doug

@ Hi Cheryl,

We'll I was going to photoshop my head onto the bikini-clad gun toting body, but I didn't want anyone thinking I had pudgy thighs.

Good comment. Thank you!

Doug

@ Doug,

Your post is great! Thanks for the link to the Baker site with all the links, too. I think the first image that gained a lot of notoriety for being altered was a cover of National Geographic of the pyramids.

All the best,

Doug

[Shannon Walters]

I'd argue that our kids get a LOT of exposure to images that are simply "too good to be true" in the advertising campaigns aimed at them. Just watch Saturday morning cartoons... Sadly, most kids can also relate to the experience of playing with a much-longed-for toy only to discover that it didn't measure up to the expectations set by the ads. Can teachers and parents build on these experiences and teach kids to deconstruct the marketing aimed at them- whether political or financial? Maybe we can raise a generation that's more savvy than their adults. My school district actually blocks Snopes with its filters. Go figure.

I think every kid should have the chance to play with Photoshop and movie making. Constructing their own media goes a long way to understanding the media they encounter everyday.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Shannon,

Ah, I remember my own disappoint after receiving the device that was to instantly make me a ventriloquist that I'd ordered from the back of a comic book. It was a small piece of plastic. What a rip!

I believe there was legislation at one time that required toys to be shown in an actual play situation - that toys that needed to be pushed by hand were shown being pushed by hand. Don't know if this is still the rule or not.

Anyway I agree that parents could use some visual literacy skills and that a little knowledge of Photoshop would teach this as well.

Thanks for the comment!

Doug