Key factors:
An amazing majority of teenagers (94 %) need their colleges to show media literacy, though simply 39 % reported having had any such instruction through the 2023-24 college 12 months, in line with a examine from The Information Literacy Undertaking, a nonpartisan schooling nonprofit.
The examine reveals the alarming frequency with which American youngsters are uncovered to–and consider–conspiracy theories on social media. However the analysis additionally discovered that instructing college students media literacy is related to wholesome on-line habits like fact-checking earlier than sharing on social media.
The examine–Information Literacy in America: A survey of adlescent data attitudes, habits & expertise–surveyed greater than 1,000 younger folks aged 13-18 and highlights the urgent want for systemic information literacy instruction in our nation’s colleges.
“As we head into the ultimate stretch of an election season outlined by the unfold of knowledge dysfunction, this survey demonstrates that we urgently want to arrange our younger folks to discern credible information from deceptive or false data,” stated Information Literacy Undertaking CEO and President Charles Salter. “America’s teenagers have to study information literacy expertise to allow them to be extra knowledgeable voters of the long run.”
Among the many findings:
- Eight in 10 American youngsters say they see conspiracy theories on social media at the very least as soon as per week. A number of the most frequent narratives cited embrace the 2020 election being rigged or stolen, the COVID-19 vaccine being harmful and the Earth being flat.
- Of these teenagers who reported seeing conspiracy theories, 81 % report that they consider at the very least certainly one of them.
- Nearly half of teenagers (45 %) suppose the press does extra to hurt democracy than shield it.
- Eight in 10 say data from information organizations is not any extra neutral than different content material creators on-line.
- Lower than one quarter of teenagers (23 %) say they use generative synthetic intelligence chatbots as soon as per week or extra, difficult the notion that AI instruments have already upended the way in which younger folks method schoolwork.
“This examine underscores how vitally vital information literacy expertise are in an data setting dominated by social media. These platforms are residence to dangerous conspiracy theories, and our outcomes present that American teenagers usually are not exempt from being uncovered to, or doubtlessly even influenced by them,” stated Dr. Kim Bowman, a co-author of the report. “We have to do all the pieces we will to ensure that younger folks know the right way to shield themselves from falsehoods – and this report exhibits that our college students are emphatically asking for media literacy to be taught in colleges.”
There have been additionally causes to be inspired that media literacy instruction may also help teenagers extra efficiently navigate our data ecosystem.
Among the many findings, teenagers with at the very least some publicity to media literacy instruction have been extra more likely to:
- Interact in civic-minded actions, akin to pushing again in opposition to misinformation
- Appropriately determine a picture that includes an actual particular person versus an AI-generated likeness
- Report larger belief in information media and extra lively information habits
The examine offers suggestions for folks and guardians, educators, policymakers and journalists to make sure college students have the data and talent to take part in civic society as well-informed, essential thinkers by the point they graduate highschool.
“The Information Literacy in America report identifies that the nation’s youth need media literacy to be provided in colleges and the findings couldn’t make it any clearer that the topic must change into a curricular precedence,” stated Dr. Lance Holbert, director of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC) on the Annenberg Public Coverage Heart on the College of Pennsylvania, who was not concerned within the examine. “It ought to function a wake-up name for educating the nation’s youth in regards to the worth of high quality journalism for a sustainable democracy.”
This press launch initially appeared on-line.
