Truth or Fiction: Teaching digital literacy to children is vital to
combatting online disinformation
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The SPLC | Read the full piece here
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Friend,
We didn't need the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6 to know our
society is awash in disinformation. But the attack by far-right
extremists reacting to former President Donald Trump's
false claims about a "stolen" election certainly provided
a wake-up call about the dangers of such falsehoods.
Our democracy itself depends on a shared trust and belief in the
facts. But the internet and the proliferation of media sources with
dubious credibility have changed everything. Now, extremist propaganda
and conspiracy theories like QAnon spread with the click of a mouse.
"Everywhere we look around the world, disinformation is a threat
to society," says Kristin Lord
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, president and CEO of IREX, a global development and education
organization. "No matter what issue you look at, whether
it's violence and racism in the United States, polarization,
health issues like the pandemic or the health of democracy - you
can just go down a list and disinformation makes every public policy
challenge harder."
But what can be done about it?
Cory Collins, a senior writer for the Southern Poverty Law
Center's Learning for Justice project, explores efforts to
implement digital literacy education in the Fall issue
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of Learning for Justice magazine.
Collins' story, "Reimagining Digital Literacy Education to
Save Ourselves
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," examines the way in which experts are advising educators
about understanding the roots of online misinformation and how to
counter it.
"There are steps, big and small, that educators can be
taking," says Erin McNeill, founder of Media Literacy Now, a
grassroots nonprofit advocating for policies that would make media
literacy "an essential element in public education."
One of the first steps is persuading school officials about the
importance of incorporating digital literacy into the curricula.
McNeill says parents and educators can make a big difference. If they
learn more about media literacy and related resources, they can
advocate for it to district leaders and school boards.
"We're trying to get more of a grassroots army of people
who understand what media literacy is, recognize its value and are
asking for it," McNeill says.
READ MORE
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