Beat 102 103 launches Digital Media Literacy Tour for secondary schools in Kilkenny and South East

Youth radio station Beat 102 103 has launched its first-ever Digital Media Literacy Tour for students in the South-East region, supported by Comisiún na Meán. 

The tour aims to showcase vital digital information for students in secondary schools over the coming months. Digital literacy is important for many reasons, especially for younger people in Ireland as they integrate with rapidly growing platforms and technologies. 

This roadshow strives to help students identify misinformation and disinformation online and enables them to have the skills, knowledge, and understanding of how to process content on and offline. The roadshow brings to life a media literacy short course that is currently being taught as part of the Junior Cycle curriculum. The course for first year students is devised by Beat in consultation with teachers, the radio sector’s training network Learning Waves and Media Literacy Ireland.

The roadshow is hosted by a variety of well-known voices on the popular radio station including Beat Breakfast’s Niall and Sho, Beat Throwbacks’ Cillian Doyle, Bring the Beat’s Michelle Heffernan, The Takeover’s presenting duo Megan O’Regan Byrne, and Kirsten Mate Maher. Over the coming months, Beat will travel to 20 secondary schools, reaching thousands of teenagers encouraging them to Stop, Think and Check that the information that they are getting, from whatever source, is accurate and reliable. 

On Thursday, February 1, Beat began their roadshow at St Angela's Ursuline Secondary School in Waterford City. Six sessions were delivered throughout the day to almost 200 first-year students. 

Speaking after the inaugural presentation, Beat Breakfast Presenter and Head of Station Sound Niall Power said: “With 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. Our 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’s great that we can share our experiences with young people trying to navigate a confusing digital world” added the Waterford native.

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 “the 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’s important to share our knowledge and skills. It’s 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”.

CEO of Beat 102 103 Gabrielle Cummins says ensuring an engaging experience for students in the region was paramount when planning the tour.

The Beat 102 103 Digital Media Literacy Roadshow will visit secondary schools across the South East from February to May 2024. One of the twenty schools will win €1,000 in cash while one lucky student will win an iPad. 

If you would like your school to be one of the 20 visited by Beat, you can register via www.beat102103.com/medialiteracy