February 1 2024 marked a major milestone in the South East as youth radio station Beat 102 103 launched its first-ever Digital Media Literacy Tour\u00a0supported by Comisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n.\u00a0The tour aims to showcase vital digital information for students in secondary schools across the region over the coming months.\u00a0Digital literacy is important for many reasons, especially for younger people in Ireland as they integrate with rapidly growing platforms and technologies.\u00a0This roadshow strives to help\u00a0students identify misinformation and disinformation online and enables them to have the skills, knowledge, and understanding of how to process content on and offline.\u00a0The roadshow\u00a0brings\u00a0to life a media literacy short course that is currently being taught as part of the Junior Cycle curriculum.\u00a0The course\u00a0for first year students\u00a0is devised by Beat in consultation with teachers, the radio sector\u2019s training network Learning Waves and draws on Media Literacy Ireland resources and the Be Media Smart messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The roadshow is hosted by a variety of well-known voices on the popular radio station including\u00a0Beat Breakfast\u2019s Niall and Sho, Beat Throwbacks\u2019 Cillian Doyle, Bring the Beat\u2019s Michelle Heffernan, The Takeover\u2019s\u00a0presenting duo\u00a0Megan O\u2019Regan Byrne, and Kirsten Mate Maher.\u00a0Over the coming months, Beat will\u00a0travel\u00a0to 20 secondary schools,\u00a0reaching\u00a0thousands of teenagers encouraging them to \u201cStop, Think and Check\u201d that the information that they are getting, from whatever source, is accurate and reliable.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beat began their roadshow at St. Angela’s Ursuline Secondary School in Waterford City.\u00a0Six sessions were delivered throughout the day to almost 200 first-year students.\u00a0Speaking after the inaugural presentation, Beat Breakfast Presenter and Head of Station Sound Niall Power said: \u201cWith a reach of 163,000 listeners weekly and an online following of over 850,000 the Beat team is well placed to talk about the positive and negative aspects of digital life.\u00a0Our listeners often reach out to us when they encounter a problem or scam online. Last year, a few Beat presenters, including myself, had our social media accounts cloned which was a real wake-up call for us. It\u2019s great that we can share our experiences with young people trying to navigate a confusing digital world<\/em>\u201d added the Waterford native.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beat Breakfast co-host Shonagh Lyons says the tour aims to help students feel more secure when online. Shonagh who hails from Wexford highlighted that \u201cthe opportunity to engage with young people in schools about their digital lives is so important to Beat as a youth station. Considering so many of us are heavily reliant on our phones as a source of news, maintaining connections, and as a social outlet, we feel it\u2019s important to share our knowledge and skills. It\u2019s also a chance for them to open up to us about their online habits, any worries they might have and provide resources to help them feel secure as they encounter the changing landscape of the digital world<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n