Almost all corporations exist to make a profit. When laudable educational goals conflict with the profit motive, profit is certain to win out. Media educators must continue to interrogate the culture, and when appropriate, question rampant consumerism and the corporate takeover of public expression. We must seek the high moral ground if the classroom is to remain an arena for open discussion, critique and resistance, unfettered by commercial interventions. While Ontario leads the world in mandated curriculum support for media literacy, neither the Ministry nor many schools and school boards have provided adequate funding for the necessary technology, especially in the area of production.
Financial comparisons made with the U.S. school system are spurious at best.
Canadian schools have never gone through the funding crises that have characterized U.S. education for the past decade. Many of us breathed a collective sigh of relief when the year 1984 came and went without the nightmarish Orwellian vision that permeated the novel that is on so many high school reading lists. Corporate Big Brother is, in fact, a much more subtle presence than Orwell could ever have predicted. The Association for Media Literacy will continue to monitor the progress of YNN in order to debate its goals and implementation strategies. We urge Canadian educators and the public to enter into discussions about its merits and liabilities as soon as possible.