More than 70% of young people in the UK think that the Government and social media companies should do more to tackle misinformation (false or misleading information) online, according to new research published for Safer Internet Day 2021.
This resources pack includes an article from The Week Junior magazine, along with a sheet of activities designed to get children thinking, talking and writing about what the story means to them.
Activities include:
- Book publishers would never be able to get away with printing the often harmful nonsense that can be found online, so why should the big technology companies avoid being held to account? Or is that just inviting trouble? What do you think? Debate as a class or in groups.
- Imagine you are an uninformed yet otherwise harmless writer for a history website. Write a humorous, deliberately misleading account of an event from history. Remember to base it on factual events but add in some obviously inaccurate details.
- Write an imaginary letter to the head of a major social media organisation. Explain how you feel about the way misinformation is spread and what you think they should do about it. Don’t forget to use the conventions of a formal letter.
- Write definitions of the following terms with an internet context: clickbait, troll farm, influencer, phishing
Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.
What is The Week Junior?
The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.
To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.