"Guidelines for Cultivation of Short Video Media Literacy for Minors" released at Tsinghua University

China News Service, Beijing, September 8 (Reporter Yin Qianyun) Recently, the Youth Media Literacy Branch of the Chinese Education Society, the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, and Douyin released the "Guidelines for the Cultivation of Short Video Media Literacy for Minors" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") at Tsinghua University. For the first time, the "Guide" systematically constructs a three-layer competency framework of "basic layer-core layer-guarantee layer" to help minors grow up healthily in the digital age.

It is reported that the project team conducted surveys in many places and conducted in-depth interviews with students of different school ages in primary schools, junior high schools, and high schools, as well as parents and front-line teachers, to understand the usage status of short videos and literacy cultivation needs of minors. The survey found that short videos have been deeply integrated into minors’ daily scenes such as learning, expression, communication and entertainment. On the one hand, short videos provide a new space for knowledge expansion, interest cultivation, creative expression and social participation; on the other hand, minors also face risks such as insufficient information discrimination ability and still developing self-management ability.

Chen Liang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communication, introduced that the "Guide" takes balanced development, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages as the basic principles, and builds a three-layered short video media literacy framework of "basic layer-core layer-guarantee layer". The basic layer focuses on the ability to access and use short videos, including platform operation and information management, knowledge and understanding of recommendation mechanisms, multiple contacts and flexible use; the core layer focuses on self-development capabilities, including information acquisition and rational judgment, digital creation and self-expression, social connection and healthy participation, healthy aesthetics and rational leisure; the protection layer focuses on risk response capabilities, including risk identification and self-protection, time management and physical and mental maintenance, norms of speech and conduct, and understanding of the rule of law.

The innovation of this framework is that it incorporates "being able to use, develop, and be responsible" into the same system. It not only responds to the realistic requirements for online protection of minors, but also pays attention to the positive value of short videos in learning and growth, creative expression, and social interaction, and promotes the cultivation concept from pure passive protection to equal emphasis on protection and empowerment.

Another innovation in the Guide is the active participation of minors throughout the research and cultivation paths. During the research phase, the research team introduced the "child researcher mechanism" and invited minors of appropriate age to participate in the research as research partners, using peer communication to help researchers more truly understand the online lives, language habits and practical demands of minors.