Addicted to media and media manipulation

Since media manipulate and misuse information more and more, we need a media pedagogy as well as a (new) school curriculum which contains directions and methodological suggestions on how “to train“children to critically think about the world around them and to critically process information that the (new) media provide. With the help of analysis of symbolic forms and sociolinguistics the authors explains the transformation of homo communicans to conscious homo symbolicum. This work actualizes the question of media manipulations, young people and children's addiction to electronic media, and the question when (their) cares for others start to „die“with the Internet. Finally, the author proposes a specific definition of media competence interpretation and provides guidelines for employees of institutions in acquiring media competence, and concludes that new horizons of media competence should lead to media education, and media culture as integral parts of media pedagogy.