Home / News California mandates media literacy for K-12 to teach kids how to spot fake news Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Other states might follow suit. By Alexandra Frost December 4, 2023 Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Rectangle As a former journalism teacher, one of the most impactful lessons I’d teach in my students’ first days involved sharing two side-by-side images, and then articles. They’d have to identify which was fake. Most of them couldn’t. It opened the door, and their minds, to the fact that their entire online realities might be riddles with misinformation, but that they could sleuth those out with a little detective training. While Americans used to resist restricting false information in 2018, with just 39% agreeing with doing so, now in 2023 55% of Americans think the federal government should restrict it, Pew Research reports. Most of us could logically point to the controversial Trump election and the pandemic as key news events in between pushing for more restriction. Our research is featured prominently in the rationale for California's important new media literacy law (authored by @AsmMarcBerman)https://t.co/QMzBESCqtL pic.twitter.com/3v3kXRDVZA— Digital Inquiry Group (@InquiryGroup) November 29, 2023 This fall, California became the first state to pass a bill requiring media literacy to incorporate recognizing fake news. This doesn’t have to be a separate class, but rather a lesson that teachers can integrate into English, science, math, and history, at all grade levels, USA Today reports. The bill, introduced in February by Marc Berman, was signed by the governor on Oct. 13. The standards will be revised after Jan. 1 2024. Other states have varying levels of media literacy requirements, including New Jersey, ILlinois, and Delaware who also require it. Others are pushing to prioritize it more, USA Today shares. Berman’s bill cited a study showing that 82% of middle schoolers couldn’t tell the difference between ads and stories, for example. He quotes another study showing that 96% of high school students didn’t know that the fossil fuel industry might influence the content and credibility of a website about climate change. With so many kids turning to the Internet for not only their information but also their self worth, it’s an essential conversation for teachers, but also parents, to have with kids. Categories: News Related articles News Santa by the numbers: 8 fun facts about his Christmas Eve journey Updated December 23, 2024 News Regulators say infant neck floats are unsafe after 2 deaths and dozens of ‘close calls’ October 9, 2024 News More than half of states nationwide have cell phone bans in K-12 schools—but is it safe? October 8, 2024 News New report shows Black girls face more frequent and severe discipline in U.S. public schools October 7, 2024 News Health officials are issuing warnings about the risks of drinking apple cider October 4, 2024