According to the 2022 study performed by the Flemish state TV network, young people feel the most confident to spot disinformation compared to other age groups.
The question arises whether they are truly well informed about the dangers of (social) media and capable of debunking fake news, or whether they simply feel very confident, as is typical for their age.
Miles next step is to tackle the possibility of the youngster over estimating themselves: Upcoming in the project: Student workshops.
Young people vs. disinformation
The topic of disinformation is increasingly entering our classrooms.
Young people seem to be at least somewhat aware of the concepts of fake news and factchecking.
They enjoy watching AI generated content on TikTok and Youtube (some even love creating it themselves), while simultaneously they struggle sending a hand made formal email or school assignment via online tools. While schoolteaching tends to focus on the latter
While schoolteaching tends to mainly focus on the latter, we are increasingly seeing the need for the former – the danger of (AI-generated) disinformation – emerging.
One thing is certain: as a society, we are increasingly vulnerable to disinformation, and young people – however self-confident they might appear – are the key and the foundation of today and the basis for our future society.
Increasing critical thinking skills and attitudes with students
During the next phase of our project we will be organizing workshops with students. In all the participating countries the teacher training has resulted in co-designing workshops and tools. Now these tools will be implemented in the classrooms!
Stay tuned for the assessments and the toolbox that will be derived from all those expierences.