But in any case, I am not talking about teaching values, but about giving children tools. There is nothing ideological in teaching media analysis, any more than there is in teaching mathematics. Most people will barely use their maths learning once they leave school; they will generally have much more use for media analysis skills.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

Rational thought is a thin layer developed to serve the affective system that comes to believe it is running the show. Critical thinking and so on are tool sets built on top of that. Thin and fragile toolsets that even the best of us struggle to apply properly. They help a bit, but only if you remember to use them. Propaganda works even if you know it's propaganda.

What does inoculate you against advertising is not seeing it. We don't have a normal TV feed any more so all our TV watching is either off the Internet or (ripped to harddrive) DVDs. As a result watching TV ads is a curious experience. It's as if they're speaking a slightly foreign language or a language I once spoke but have forgotten.

Advertisements do not typically contain factual claims upon which critical thinking may be exercised.

Indeed, but they use codes and techniques which are recognisable and analysable.
eurogreen:

Critical thinking, and media analysis, need to be part of the core school curriculum

Pavlovian reflexes can be overcome through higher thought. This is one thing which distinguishes humans from dogs (of course, it doesn't prevent humans from behaving like dogs on occasion). Children need to have access to the tools which enable them to choose to defend themselves against mind control, if they wish to. This goes way beyond advertising, of course.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}