One day your kids are learning to walk and the next they're on their own sharing Russian propaganda on Youtube and Facebook.
You might think your great-uncle using an old desk top to "surf the
internets" is the person at risk of accidentally spreading "fake news"
on social networks, but kids these days aren't always faring so much
better.
A large-scale study
by the Stanford Graduate School of Education found that young people at
every stage from middle school to college were consistently unable to
differentiate news from advertising, or false information from the
truth, a state of affairs the researchers described as “bleak.”
Compounding the problem is the way young people use the internet.
Much of the news they do consume comes through intermediaries, chief
among them Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, according to
research from Common Sense Media.
These networks often muddy the source of information, or make all
outlets look similar, robbing the audience of visual cues to help them
differentiate reliable and less-reliable sources. It’s worth remembering
that adults have trouble identifying fake news in this environment as well.
The good news is, parents and caregivers are ideally placed to help. The same Common Sense Media study
found that while children aged 10 to 18 were typically skeptical of
mainstream media, 66% felt they could trust information from their
families.
So how can you teach kids to spot fake news, rather than be fooled by it?
The A, B, Cs of media literacy
Common Sense Media’s vice president and editor-in-chief Jill Murphy
says it starts with basic media literacy, which can be taught from as
young as five—for example, telling your child why a show isn’t
appropriate for them instead of just shutting it off. Toward the end of
elementary school, they can grasp the fact that journalism is a job,
which you might illustrate by showing them news stories on the same
topic published by different outlets. “It may go against your values to
look at the other side of an issue,” says Murphy. “But it's a way for
them to absorb the concept that people write to convey a specific
message. Learning to question those messages is an important skill.”
However, you don’t want to make them too critical, says Peter Adams, senior vice president of education at non-profit The News Literacy Project.
“One mistake a lot of people make is to give the impression that all
information is created with an ulterior motive. We don't want kids to be
naïve, but we don't want them to be cynical, either.”
He thinks it’s helpful to be clear about the meaning of “fake news,”
especially since the term has become politicized, used to mean anything
from propaganda to a view you disagree with. “Fake news is a specific
kind of misinformation that is entirely fictional but is designed to
look like news, usually with an institutional-sounding name and an
institutional-looking masthead.” He wouldn’t include manipulated images
or conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones in this definition but sees them
as part of a culture of misinformation, which he describes as “an
enormous problem.”
His organization teaches adolescents to ask a series of questions
when they look at a news story, especially one that incites an emotional
reaction, as fake news is designed to do. If they haven’t heard of the
publication before, they should search to see if any recognizable news
outlets have covered the story. “Then they can ask more nuanced
questions, like: Is this fair? Does it give me everything I need to
know? Could it be more objective? The goal is for those steps to become
habitual so they have an internal sense of red flags.”
Psychologist David Anderson, PhD is the director of programs at the Child Mind Institute
in New York. He says parents who want to talk to their children about
fake news should tackle it the same way as any other potentially
sensitive subject. “Think about a couple of talking points beforehand
and approach the conversation calmly. Then we recommend opening it up
and asking what kind of stories they’ve seen where they’ve wondered
whether they were real.” He says the best way to know what media your
child is consuming is to watch videos or look at social media with them,
and let them tell you what they like, without judgment.
Use teenage angst for good
Adams says that teenagers are especially vulnerable to
misinformation. They want to develop their own tastes, tend to distrust
authority and YouTube’s algorithms mean that they can easily be exposed
to extremist views, whether they seek them out or not. If they believe
any of the conspiracy theories they come across, though, he says they
can usually be guided to see the truth. “Ask probing questions, like:
How is this sourced? How is there no proof that this exists beyond these
types of videos? They're connecting these two dots, are they really
related?” Just don’t lecture them, advises Anderson. “We tend to listen
to those who share our views and discount those who don’t.”
The effect of misinformation on children is hard to measure, but
Adams sees equipping them to deal with it as a moral imperative.
“Information is the basis of students' civic literacy, civic engagement
and civic empowerment, so to not give them the tools they need to
navigate the 21st century information landscape and make smart decisions
is fundamentally disempowering.”
Of course, adults aren’t immune, and you might need to brush up on
your own media literacy alongside your kids. But the key to these
conversations is a strong parent-child relationship, says Anderson.
“It’s about whether or not kids feel like you have their best interests
at heart and can help them think about something without forcing them
into a particular perspective.” Peter Adams agrees. His top tip for
talking to children about fake news? “Bring it to them. Don't wait for
them to bring it to you.”
Read more great stories from Small Humans:
The skills kids need to avoid getting fooled by fake news
November 02, 2018
1 comment
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