Secondary schools increasingly face the challenge of preparing students who are intensive digital media users yet receive limited formal media literacy education. This study examines digital media consumption patterns and the necessity of media literacy education among Omani secondary school students — a population underrepresented in existing school-based media research. A cross-sectional survey of 747 students (grades 10–12) across 10 educational directorates employed three-stage stratified cluster sampling. A culturally-adapted Arabic instrument (89 items, α=.79–.88) assessed platform usage, daily screen time, perceived impacts, and media literacy attitudes. Instagram (19.91%) and YouTube (17.18%) dominated student media consumption; 54% spent 1–5 hours daily on digital media versus 52.9% spending under one hour on traditional media (paired t(746)=28.91, p<.001, d=1.51). Students demonstrated dual awareness: 97.36% recognized digital skill benefits while 87.12% acknowledged associated health risks. Parental mediation revealed culturally distinctive patterns — high acceptance of value-based guidance (94.75%) contrasted sharply with resistance to device monitoring (43.48%). Religious institutions received highest trust for media literacy delivery (87.5%), followed by families (72.24%) and schools (72.03%). These findings establish a clear necessity for embedding media literacy within secondary school curricula, supported by culturally-grounded frameworks that engage religious and family institutions alongside formal schooling. This study provides the first nationally-representative baseline of digital media use among Omani secondary school students and validates an Arabic media literacy instrument for use in Gulf educational settings.

Authors:
Faten Ben Lagha, University Sultan Qaboos, Oman

About the Presenter(s)
I hold a doctorate in Information and Communication Sciences from Stendhal University . From 2004 until now, I have been teaching at universities, and I am currently at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman.

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