Verifying information is something that should be learned in school – 05/11/2023 – Education

We may not remember exactly which letter or term designates the current generation –after all, there are many definitions–, but there is common sense when talking about the skills of these children and young people who are growing up with uninterrupted access to TikTok and content from digital influencers: the idea that they know and understand how to use digital platforms much better than the adults in their families. As if this knowledge were something innate to these digital natives, who “were born knowing”. This is a myth that needs to be deconstructed, and young people themselves are showing us this.

Data from the most recent ICT Kids Online Brasil show that 57% of the population between 11 and 17 years old say it is true that children and adolescents know how to check if information found on the internet is correct, which means that almost half of them admit to having difficulties in carrying out this task. check.

When asked how to check if a website is trustworthy, the rate is 62%. The survey has been carried out since 2012 by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br), from the Information and Coordination Center of Ponto BR (NIC.br), with the objective of detailing how this age group uses networks.

It is interesting to note the percentage differences in survey responses. When asked if children and teenagers know how to install applications and protect a device with some security feature, the rates are 94% and 84%, respectively. That is, when it comes to skills considered operational, the numbers increase considerably. Among skills linked to understanding the informational universe, they themselves assume that it is something more difficult.

Accessing, analyzing, creating and critically participating in the informational and media environment in all its formats and models, which includes print and digital vehicles, are fundamental requirements in the education of any citizen in the context in which we live. This knowledge must be constructed –it is not something given, as we are used to thinking– and the school has a fundamental role in the media education of students since they enter the education system.

If the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education determines that “basic education aims to develop the student, to assure him of the indispensable common training for the exercise of citizenship”, supporting this process is an attribution of the school units and their pedagogical teams , which must be prepared for this. The mediation of teachers is essential for children and young people to learn to read, write and participate consciously, autonomously, responsibly and critically in informational environments, which includes developing skills such as those described in ICT Kids Online Brasil.

The soap opera Travessia, which had its last chapter shown last week, was very didactic in this regard, through three teenage characters: a boy who made a photo montage that went viral, harming the life of the protagonist of the plot; a boy who was addicted to online games; a girl who, when befriending a supposed influencer, ended up ensnared by a pedophile. In the three stories, young people needed family help and specialized support to understand the dimension of their attitudes and consequences.

As much as it is fiction, there is no lack of data for us to understand that reality is quite similar to what is narrated in the plot. Recent denunciations made by Fantástico and by this Folha revealed how minors have been acting in groups on Discord, disseminating and sharing extremely cruel and criminal videos, involving sexual violence and other very serious crimes.

While big techs and governments need to act in a macro way, with more transparency in processes and through the creation of public policies, respectively, it is also necessary to encourage media education for children and young people, both in families and in schools, so that we train young people capable of distinguishing between information and disinformation on Tik Tok and on future platforms that will still emerge, in a world in constant and accelerated change.