“Since children engage with a variety of media texts, it is important to help them develop tools for questioning the taken-for-granted assumptions that are embedded in the messages, to reflect on their own reasons for engaging with such texts, and to have opportunities to use their developing critical skills to create their own media texts.”(Luke, 1997; Vasquez, 2005a, as cited by Gainer, 2007)

When I was a kid around 8 years old, I sang the popular songs along the radio but not knowing what was the meaning of the lyrics. Maybe by about 12 years old, I began to focus on the lyrics and tried to figure out the meaning; by 15 years old I began to pick favorite songs based on whether the lyrics resonated with me. I have never had a chance to negotiate the meaning of lyrics or even reflect on them with my classmates in the classroom. I really appreciate Gainer’s approach to use popular culture texts as materials to develop media literacy that, I believe, many teenagers need improve. Popular culture texts are part of adolescents’ life. Oftentimes adults are criticizing such texts and worrying about their impact on teenagers. However, teenagers like popular cultures and sometimes they are under attack because of their “unwise choices”. For example, there is a very popular series of movies called Tiny Times in China. Many adults criticize the movies because the movies seemed to advocate the spirit of pursuing money and luxury life. However, teenagers love the movies very much. Those who show their favor of the movies are criticized on Internet and even called idiots by the attackers. Teenagers think they are blamed because they just like what adults do not like. What if teachers could bring some of texts into the classroom and explore the texts with students, to have students reflect on their opinions or reasons for liking or disliking them, to have students read between lines, and to have students reconstruct the texts. I think students will find pleasure in the process and develop media literacy at the same time.