Media Literacy

1. What percentage of American 8-18 year-olds have television sets in their bedrooms?
a. 14%
b. 25%
c. 42%
d. 68%
2. The average American seventh grader:
a. watches three hours of TV per day.
b. listens to three hours of music per day.
c. surfs the Internet and communicates via e-mail three hours per day.
d. plays video games three hours per day.
3. Excessive TV viewing has been linked to:
a. nearsighted vision.
b. obesity.
c. attention deficit disorder.
d. fine motor skill impairment.
4. What percentage of young people say they either talk on the phone, instant message, watch TV, listen to music or surf the Web for fun "most of the time" while they're doing homework?
a. 30%
b. 75%
c. 89%
d. 93%
5. What percentage of children willingly share personal information about themselves over the Internet in exchange for goods and services?
a. 12%
b. 28%
c. 47%
d. 75%
6. Researchers estimate that children view an average of how many TV ads per year?
a. 3,000
b. 15,000
c. 40,000
d. 90,000
7. Among the top 20 most watched shows by teens, what percentage include sexual content?
a. 10%
b. 50%
c. 70%
d. 100%
8. The TV rating code "TVY7, FV" indicates that:
a. program is appropriate for kids over age 7, although it contains animated and/or live action violence.
b. program is appropriate for kids under age 7, with parental supervision.
c. program is normally appropriate only for kids over age 7, but this is a family version.
d. program has been screened so it doesn't contain ads that are inappropriate for children under age 7.
9. An online journal or Web log is commonly referred to as a:
a. DVR.
b. mp3 file.
c. blog.
d. pod.
10. Approximately how much money was spent on presidential election advertising during the 2004 election?
a. $10 million
b. $50 million
c. $100 million
d. $530 million
11. According to a 2006 survey, what percentage of teens own at least one video game platform?
a. 99%
b. 81%
c. 56%
d. 34%
12. Minimum wage and allowance adds up! How much money did teens, ages 12-19, spend in 2005?
a. $250 million
b. $900 million
c. $3 billion
d. $159 billion
13. According to a 2005 survey, 9% of people in their 60's list the Internet as a main source of news. What do you think the percentage is for people under the age of 30?
a. 10%
b. 36%
c. 67%
d. 92%
14. 63% of American families "usually:"
a. allow kids under 18 to see R-rated movies.
b. keep the TV on while eating dinner.
c. have the radio on while traveling in the car.
d. allow kids to surf the Web unsupervised.
15. What percentage of Americans under the age of 30 read a newspaper on a typical day?
a. 12%
b. 23%
c. 62%
d. 87%

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12-15 correct answers
Congratulations! It's clear you're nobody's fool when it comes to media matters. You're probably already integrating media studies into your classroom curriculum -- interested in seeing what PBS might add to the mixture? Check out our list of media-related PBS Online sites and television programs.
7-11 correct answers
Good for you! Your knowledge of media literacy has a good foundation, but could benefit from further study. Learn more about the media through our list of related sites and studies. We suspect you're already talking about media literacy with your students, but for some fresh alternatives, explore the activity ideas posted on this site.
6 or less correct answers
You're on the right track, but you're not ready to run the media literacy marathon just yet. Improving your media literacy skills will not only help you as an everyday media consumer, but will also help your students' critical thinking skills -- no matter which discipline you teach. To learn how you can begin integrating media literacy into your curriculum, spend some time with our activity ideas.