Media and influential people (celebrities, social media influencers, advertisers) can significantly shape attitudes, beliefs and behaviours around health, relationships and self-image — often without us fully noticing the influence in the moment. Recognising when content is designed to sell a product, promote an unrealistic standard, or shape an opinion is a valuable media literacy skill. Communities become more inclusive when diversity — differences in culture, ability, gender, sexuality, background and more — is genuinely valued rather than just tolerated, and when people actively take steps (like speaking up against exclusion, or making group activities genuinely accessible) to promote real inclusion rather than assuming it happens automatically.
Example
A fitness influencer promoting a supplement might present an edited, filtered image alongside claims of dramatic results — recognising this as promotional content designed to sell a product, rather than an accurate, achievable standard, is a media literacy skill that protects against unrealistic comparisons and unhealthy pressure.
Key terms
Media literacy:
The ability to critically understand and evaluate media messages.
Inclusion:
Actively ensuring everyone can genuinely participate and belong, not just be present.
Questions
1. Media literacy means:
The ability to critically understand and evaluate media messages
Believing everything you see in the media
Never engaging with media at all
Something unrelated to health or relationships
2. Influencers and advertisers can:
Shape attitudes and behaviours, often without us fully noticing
Never have any influence on anyone
Only affect what products people buy
Have no connection to health or self-image
3. Inclusion means:
Actively ensuring everyone can genuinely participate and belong
Simply allowing people to be present with no real effort
Ignoring differences between people
Something that happens automatically with no effort
4. Diversity includes differences in:
Culture, ability, gender, sexuality and background
Only hair colour
Nothing meaningful
Only age
5. An edited, filtered image promoting a product is an example of:
Content designed to sell something, not necessarily reality
A completely accurate, unedited representation
Something with no persuasive purpose
Content unrelated to advertising
6. Promoting real inclusion might involve:
Speaking up against exclusion
Ignoring exclusion when you see it
Assuming inclusion happens with no effort
Avoiding any action at all
7. Recognising media as promotional content, rather than neutral fact, is an example of:
Media literacy
Blind trust in advertising
Ignoring all media entirely
Something unrelated to critical thinking
8. Why might it be important to recognise when an influencer's content is designed to sell a product, rather than accepting it as neutral information?
Promotional content has a specific persuasive purpose, which can shape unrealistic expectations or unhealthy comparisons if taken at face value
Promotional content is always completely neutral with no persuasive intent
Recognising promotional intent has no bearing on how content should be interpreted
Advertisers and influencers never have any commercial motive behind their content
9. Why might genuine inclusion require more than simply allowing everyone to be "present" in a group or activity?
True inclusion means people can actually participate meaningfully, not just technically be allowed to attend
Being present is always identical to being genuinely included
Inclusion requires no active effort once people are technically allowed to attend
Meaningful participation has no connection to genuine inclusion
10. Why might repeated exposure to filtered, idealised images on social media affect someone's body image over time, even if they know the images are edited?
Frequent exposure to an unrealistic standard can still shape expectations and comparisons, even with conscious awareness it is edited
Knowing images are edited always completely eliminates any effect on self-perception
Repeated exposure to idealised images has no cumulative effect on body image
Media literacy makes someone completely immune to any influence from images
11. Why might actively speaking up when someone is excluded from a group activity be an example of promoting genuine inclusion, rather than just being passively "nice"?
It takes deliberate action to address exclusion, rather than assuming inclusion happens automatically without any effort
Speaking up against exclusion has no real connection to promoting inclusion
Passive niceness always achieves exactly the same outcome as active advocacy
Genuine inclusion requires no active effort or intervention from anyone
12. Why might understanding a media message's intended audience help you evaluate how it might be trying to influence you specifically?
Media is often deliberately tailored to appeal to and persuade a specific target audience, which can reveal its underlying purpose
Intended audience has no bearing on how a media message is designed or how it might influence someone
All media messages are designed identically regardless of intended audience
Understanding audience targeting provides no useful insight into a message's purpose
13. Why might valuing diversity go beyond simply acknowledging that differences exist within a community?
Genuinely valuing diversity involves actively appreciating and making space for different perspectives and experiences, not just noting they exist
Acknowledging differences exist is always identical to genuinely valuing them
Valuing diversity requires no active effort once differences are simply noted
There is no meaningful difference between acknowledging and genuinely valuing diversity
14. Why might a community that only tolerates diversity (rather than genuinely valuing it) still leave some people feeling like they don't truly belong?
Mere tolerance can feel conditional or grudging, rather than reflecting authentic acceptance and belonging
Tolerance and genuine valuing of diversity always feel identical to those experiencing them
Tolerance has no connection to whether someone feels a genuine sense of belonging
A community that tolerates diversity is always automatically genuinely inclusive
15. Why might algorithms on social media platforms (showing more of what you already engage with) make certain media influences feel even more powerful and pervasive over time?
Repeated exposure to similar content, reinforced by algorithms, can amplify a particular message or standard without a person actively seeking it out
Social media algorithms have no effect on which messages a person is repeatedly exposed to
Algorithms always show a completely random, unbiased range of content to every user
The influence of media has no connection to how content is shown or repeated to someone
16. Why might genuinely inclusive event planning (like considering accessibility needs in advance) reflect a deeper commitment to inclusion than simply not excluding people?
Proactively planning for diverse needs shows an active effort to ensure genuine participation, rather than inclusion being incidental or an afterthought
Simply not excluding anyone is always identical to actively planning for genuine inclusion
Accessibility planning has no real connection to how inclusive an event actually is
Proactive planning for diverse needs provides no additional benefit over passive non-exclusion
17. Why might critically evaluating a media message's claims (like a product's promised results) be an important skill even when the message seems trustworthy or relatable?
Persuasive techniques can be effective and appear genuine precisely because they are well-crafted, making critical evaluation important regardless of how convincing something seems
A message that seems trustworthy or relatable should always be accepted without any further evaluation
Persuasive techniques never appear genuine or trustworthy to their intended audience
Critical evaluation is only necessary for media messages that already seem obviously suspicious
18. Why might promoting inclusion within a community ultimately benefit the whole group, not just the specific individuals being included?
A genuinely inclusive community can draw on a wider range of perspectives, ideas and strengths, benefiting everyone involved
Inclusion efforts only ever benefit the specific individuals directly included, with no wider benefit
A community's overall strength and functioning has no connection to how inclusive it is
Promoting inclusion for some individuals always comes at a cost to everyone else in the group
19. A student notices they feel worse about their own body after scrolling through a fitness account for 30 minutes, even though they know the images are edited. What is the most useful next step, based on media literacy skills?
Recognise the connection between the content and their mood, and consciously adjust their media habits (like unfollowing or limiting time on that content)
Ignore the feeling completely since they already know the images are edited
Assume nothing can be done about how media content affects their mood
Media literacy has no practical use once someone already knows content is edited
20. Why might a school actively redesigning group activities (like ensuring team sports have modified options) demonstrate a deeper commitment to inclusion than simply having an anti-exclusion policy on paper?
Practical, structural changes create genuine opportunities to participate, going beyond a written policy that doesn't change how activities actually work
A written policy is always exactly as effective as practical structural changes
Redesigning activities for inclusion provides no benefit beyond having a policy in place
Structural changes to activities have no real connection to genuine inclusion
21. Understanding media influence, diversity and inclusion mainly helps you to:
Critically evaluate media messages and actively contribute to genuinely inclusive communities
Accept all media content and messaging without question
Assume inclusion happens automatically with no active effort required
Treat diversity as something to merely tolerate rather than value
Answer key (parent copy)
1. The ability to critically understand and evaluate media messages
2. Shape attitudes and behaviours, often without us fully noticing
3. Actively ensuring everyone can genuinely participate and belong
4. Culture, ability, gender, sexuality and background
5. Content designed to sell something, not necessarily reality
6. Speaking up against exclusion
7. Media literacy
8. Promotional content has a specific persuasive purpose, which can shape unrealistic expectations or unhealthy comparisons if taken at face value
9. True inclusion means people can actually participate meaningfully, not just technically be allowed to attend
10. Frequent exposure to an unrealistic standard can still shape expectations and comparisons, even with conscious awareness it is edited
11. It takes deliberate action to address exclusion, rather than assuming inclusion happens automatically without any effort
12. Media is often deliberately tailored to appeal to and persuade a specific target audience, which can reveal its underlying purpose
13. Genuinely valuing diversity involves actively appreciating and making space for different perspectives and experiences, not just noting they exist
14. Mere tolerance can feel conditional or grudging, rather than reflecting authentic acceptance and belonging
15. Repeated exposure to similar content, reinforced by algorithms, can amplify a particular message or standard without a person actively seeking it out
16. Proactively planning for diverse needs shows an active effort to ensure genuine participation, rather than inclusion being incidental or an afterthought
17. Persuasive techniques can be effective and appear genuine precisely because they are well-crafted, making critical evaluation important regardless of how convincing something seems
18. A genuinely inclusive community can draw on a wider range of perspectives, ideas and strengths, benefiting everyone involved
19. Recognise the connection between the content and their mood, and consciously adjust their media habits (like unfollowing or limiting time on that content)
20. Practical, structural changes create genuine opportunities to participate, going beyond a written policy that doesn't change how activities actually work
21. Critically evaluate media messages and actively contribute to genuinely inclusive communities