69ý

Opinion
Families & the Community Opinion

Teens Need to Be Able to Discern Fact From Fiction. That’s Where Adults Come In

By Mike Stone — May 17, 2019 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

This summer, a new California law goes into effect, aimed at supporting media literacy in my home state’s school systems. Effective July 1, the statute requires the state Department of Education to provide online resources on media literacy for use by school districts. And some U.S. senators have reportedly floated similar . These efforts can’t come soon enough, given how fast unreliable and provocative online information is dividing the country and challenging the very stability of our democracy.

Laws can only go so far, however. We need to get teachers and parents involved in grassroots efforts to promote media literacy at all levels of education. If you have a high school student in your household as I do, it’s time to talk with other parents, reach out to the social studies department, and get organized. If you are a teacher, you should either embrace whatever proactive measures your students’ parents want to make or be the first to encourage such a coalition. We need leadership on both sides.

It’s become clear that “fake news"—the heralding of misinformation as verified fact or the dismissal of verified fact as misinformation—affects the way adolescents relate to one another and their understanding of the world around them, and thus could have serious negative effects on society in the future. According to market research from the brand-intelligence firm Survata, 65 percent of teens talk about politics weekly at school, and 66 percent regularly discuss “fake news.” What’s more, 60 percent of teens said fake news made their conversations either tension-filled or confusing.

There are blueprints for success when it comes to parent-aided school programs attacking social ills.

and are active in the political rhetoric dividing our country as never before. Last year, Pew Research Center found 89 percent of teens were .” A few years earlier, Common Sense Media found teens get most of their news online and on social media in particular. It’s imperative for their intellectual development, as well as the country’s future, that they become citizens who can distinguish between fact and fiction as they participate in our democracy.

A parent-teacher coalition could create a politically agnostic baseline for media literacy, nudging kids to pause and critique before accepting reports as true. For instance, as a basic rule, teens should be taught to vet the source of a news story and analyze whether it offers a balance of views or just argues a predetermined opinion and is inflammatory. Parents and teachers are natural leaders for this initiative. If they team up, they’d be especially formidable agents for better media literacy. While a 2015 survey from Common Sense Media found that 30 percent of teens believe their about what social media apps and sites they frequent, the kids also said on determining what is appropriate online.

There are blueprints for success when it comes to parent-aided school programs attacking social ills. With and unwanted pregnancies at an all-time low, it is reasonable to assume that the active efforts of parents and educators to ingrain common-sense principles in kids have paid off.

In the same vein, parent-teacher coalitions should launch dedicated groups on social media. Members of the coalitions can follow the same Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages of various media organizations and share items for discussion. Coalition members do not have to be on all of these social platforms, but they should be encouraged to be on as many as they feel comfortable with. As a group, they should monitor and analyze social-media reactions to news around issues that matter to adolescents, such as school shootings, body image, and the #MeToo movement. Such online discussions can inform parents how to supplement the current-events discussions their kids are having in social studies class. These instances also offer opportunities for parents, teachers, and students to hone their own fact-checking skills by checking links to see which sources of information are fake and which are authentic.

Parents need to act now because technology is emerging that will strain the concept of “seeing is believing.” The software is out there to create fake videos by overlaying a person’s face on another’s body. Other artificial intelligence systems are being developed that can actually fabricate faces, reproduce someone’s exact speech patterns, and show detailed cityscapes that don’t exist.

For the foreseeable future, separating credible content from falsehoods will be homework for teens and adults alike. The most basic level of media literacy—the encouragement of critical thinking—should be as much as a part of academic study as decoding red, yellow, and green lights. The information superhighway needs driver’s ed. like never before.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 05, 2019 edition of Education Week as Parents and Teachers Must Team Up Against ‘Fake News’

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Families & the Community From Our Research Center What Educators Have to Say About Parents Texting and Calling Their Kids During School
Teachers, principals, and district leaders are increasingly frustrated by parents who do not respect student cellphone restrictions.
1 min read
Photograph of a hand holding a cellphone showing text messages from "mom" with "Did you remember to take your lunch today?" and "Don't forget you have music lessons after school." The background is a blurred open book.
Kathy Everett for Education Week
Families & the Community Opinion The 3 Secrets to Better Parent-Teacher Communication
Teachers and parents rarely receive guidance on how to effectively communicate. Here’s what two experienced educators recommend.
Adam Berger & Don Berger
4 min read
Line drawing of town landscape including a school, a child, and a parent.
Fumiko Inoue/iStock
Families & the Community School Attendance Suffers as Parent Attitudes Shift
Parents are more relaxed about attendance than before the pandemic, district leaders said.
4 min read
One person walking down stairs in motion effect photography inside building.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Families & the Community Parents Call Chronic Absenteeism a Problem, But Most Can't Define It
A new poll sheds light on parents' views on chronic absenteeism and acceptable reasons to miss school.
3 min read
Empty desks within a classroom
iStock/Getty Images Plus