Laments about media influence rarely go hand in hand with demands for increased media education, says Mary Gillan, chairwoman of Teachers' Association for Media Education (TAME). "TAME's long held and frequently articulated view that media studies should be a discreet subject at secondary level seems to have fallen on deaf ears," she writes in TAME's latest newsletter.

The revised Leaving Cert English syllabus promised something quite radical in its inclusion of films as possible "texts" for critical analysis, she continues. There has been some disappointment that it may be studied in a comparative context. Film studies at second level, she says, are only in their infancy, but we must take heart from developments at senior cycle.

You can contact TAME at PO Box 46, GPO, Waterford or by email at mbg@indigo.ie