'Olbarob om' program extended to homes with young children and childcare settings

The Korea Media Rating Board and the National Association of Local Childcare Support Centers sign an MOU. [Korea Media Rating Board]
The Korea Media Rating Board and the National Association of Local Childcare Support Centers sign an MOU. [Korea Media Rating Board]

The Korea Media Rating Board plans to extend its media literacy program to homes with infants and toddlers and to childcare facilities, aiming to promote healthy media habits from the earliest stages of life.

The board announced Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Association of Local Childcare Support Centers on June 19 to promote proper media use among young children.

The agreement comes amid growing concern over rising screen time among infants and toddlers, as smart device use increases and children begin consuming media at ever-younger ages. The MOU is designed to strengthen education for parents and childcare workers on choosing age-appropriate content and developing sound media habits.

Under the agreement, the board will expand "Olbarob om," its media literacy program previously aimed at teenagers and parents, to cover homes with infants and toddlers as well as childcare settings. The board said it hopes the expansion will help children build healthy media habits from the very beginning of their lives and contribute to a more comprehensive media safety net.

The two organizations plan to pursue a range of cooperative projects through a network of 138 local childcare support centers nationwide — including media rating education for young children, caregivers and childcare workers, exchanges of educational content, and the dissemination of the board's policy and promotional materials through the centers' infrastructure.

"We plan to continue expanding media literacy education to homes with young children and childcare settings through our cooperation with the association, and to pursue various joint projects so that infants and toddlers can grow up in a safe and healthy media environment," the board said.


balme@heraldcorp.com