MEDIA LITERACY AS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE FORMATION OF PERSONAL MATURITY

The explores media literacy as a necessary condition for the formation of personal maturity in the digital age. Emphasis is placed on the ability of individuals to critically perceive, analyze, evaluate, and interpret media content as a factor of self-development, responsibility, and independence. In the modern world, information has become a primary resource that influences the formation of worldview, behavior, and beliefs. Contemporary approaches to the interpretation of the concepts of «media literacy» and «personal maturity» are generalized, and their conceptual connections are revealed. It is stated that media literacy contributes to the development of reflection, emotional resilience, critical thinking, and also forms the ability to resist information manipulation and make conscious choices. The conclusion is made about the role of media literacy as a component of media competence in the process of forming a mature, active, and responsible personality.