It’s not easy to spot truth from fiction these days. Just like us, our teens also have trouble assessing the credibility of online information. In a Stanford University study involving nearly 8,000 U.S. students, researchers found that:

  • More than 80 percent of middle schoolers believed that an advertisement labeled as sponsored content was a news story.
  • Less than 20 percent of high schoolers questioned claims in social media, such as a Facebook post that said images of strange-looking flowers, supposedly near the site of a nuclear power plant accident in Japan, proved that dangerous radiation levels persisted in the area.
  • College students in the survey looked at a Twitter post about a poll favoring gun control, more than two thirds failed to note that the antigun groups behind the poll could have influenced the data.

Be a good digital parent and teach your kids to:

  • Be wary of accounts that don’t have a lot of followers or aren’t verified on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
  • Make sure headlines and captions match the content.
  • Always read or view the full post before sharing.
  • Look for sloppy content like headlines and captions with grammatical errors, claims that aren’t backed up by quality sources, highly edited videos and sensational images.
  • Check whether other credible outlets are reporting the same news.
  • Check the date a story or video was posted to confirm current information.
  • Use Snopes or FactCheck.org to verify news that seems highly unlikely.

Teach your kids to trust their gut (reaction), AKA – themselves! If what they’re seeing or reading makes them feel strong emotions, teach them that this could be a sign that something isn’t right. But most of all, remind your kid that we are all human and we all make mistakes! Teach them that when it comes to identifying misinformation, being aware that they will come across inaccurate content online and that they can make it a practice to fact-check can help them to recognize fact from fiction.

Conversation Starters

  1. What is fake news and why do people create it?
  2. How can misinformation change how you feel about a place, a person or an issue?
  3. Do you know what URLs are the most trusted (.com, .co.uk, .net, .gov, and .org)?
  4. What do you think about AI, good and bad?
  5. Has something online ever fooled you into believing something untrue?
  6. Have you ever interacted with a bot?

Learn More:

Savvy Cyber Kids educates and empowers digital citizens, from parents and grandparents, to teachers and students. Sign up for our free resources to help you navigate today’s digital world with cyber ethics. See more cyber safety and cyber ethics blogs produced exclusively for EarthLink. Looking for a social media parental control? Try a 30-day free trial of Bark. If you sign up after your trial, Bark donates 25% of your monthly fee to Savvy Cyber Kids.

Thank you to the Savvy Cyber Kid’s sponsors!

Interested in becoming a Savvy Cyber Kids sponsor? Email Ben Halpert.