These days, my news feed is more and more clouded with headlines trying to get across a message. The messages push POVs instead of providing the raw facts and data. It can be easy for a young child or teenager to be swayed one way or another by different news sources, as it happens to adults on a daily basis. This article highlights this action by media sources and provides real-life examples, such as racial injustice, presidential elections, insurrections, and COVID. It then provides some strategies to combat this. Reflecting on your own personal biases is a good start. The two strongest sources of personal biases come from their parents and peers, in my opinion. Another good point is consulting diverse news sources. It is known that specific news outlets target a certain audience, meaning a headline and article might be crafted for them. When an event happens, it is best to receive as much data as you can, then make a rational decision analyzing that data.
Apparently, unreliable news sources have been commonplace for a long time. Thomas Jefferson complained about it, and there’s a quote attributed to Mark Twain saying “if you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.” Teaching children to read critically and be aware that people, even those in positions of authority, can be lying or telling half-truths is important. Even adults are fooled by these sorts of things, and young children are still developing their critical thinking skills, so they’re even more vulnerable.