Media professionals, prior to offering violent or sexually explicit films, cartoons and video games as entertainment for children or teens, should ask themselves how young victims of abuse and exploitation would view such products, Pope Benedict XVI said to Cindy Wooden from the Catholic News Service. The pope has called on the media to “safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human rights and promote respect for the needs of family.” The pope has suggested “Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education,” as the theme for the 2007 World Communications Day celebration. Read the story here.
YMR comments: What are the needs of family? Are all types of families considered (from the Pope’s quote)? Is media a challenge for education or is it education that needs to be challenged by youth-made media? Perhaps youth uphold the truth. Education, families, and other institutions need to support creative spaces for youth to express truth.