January 14, 2025
Modern-day Children Left Misinformed
By John Myers
By Natalia Oseida
False information is all around us pre- and post-election, especially on social media where anyone under roughly 25 gets their information from- like it or not. The common phrase “I read an article on…” has now changed into “I saw a TikTok about…” Unlike actual published pieces of journalism, no editor is fact-checking every TikTok. Opinions and facts can no longer be separated.
Children are especially prone to misinformation since they do not have their “misinformation detector” developed yet. They cannot acknowledge misinformation and are never guaranteed factual information because they are not getting it from legitimate sources. A large portion of American children cannot read. According to the Literacy Statistics 2022-2023, “Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level.” This is followed by, “Almost 70% of low-income fourth-grade students cannot read at a basic level.”
Some modern American children do not read factual articles particularly because they do not gravitate towards reading but prefer their screens instead. All of their information and explanations of the world come from social media where they spend a considerable chunk of their free time. Melinda Wenner Moyer presents this theme in her article from March 24, 2022, titled, “Kids as Young as 8 Are Using Social Media More Than Ever, Study Finds” “On average, daily screen use went up among tweens (ages 8 to 12) to five hours and 33 minutes from four hours and 44 minutes…”
If you ask an astonishing number of children about their opinions on the presidential candidates for the last election you would be surprised at how little they know. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of either candidate could be a quirky dance or quotes that give the viewer secondhand embarrassment. All of these memes shape the way children view these candidates. This makes them look unprofessional and can in turn make the entire idea of politics unserious in their minds.
“Is daddy a Republican or a political?” This is a genuine question I was asked by my 12-year-old sister. I sat there staring at her with a puzzled expression yet full of grace. Some adults around her stray away from the uncomfortable questions on politics but others make sure their opinions are heard. It is impossible to speak without bias in a regular conversation but politics needs to be taught to children with the acknowledgment of biases. Educators around the children of today need to keep in mind that they will vote one day and common knowledge of political parties (such as their names) should be native intelligence.
All hope is not lost for the children. I believe that we older folks should take it upon ourselves to give the children some real facts about political parties. It might seem backward but we are the ones that should be asking the questions in the conversation. Ask them what they know about political parties and where their information is coming from. Make them also question what they want their country to look like. For example, what values are most important to them? What do they think is moral and ethical? Do they know what the words “moral” and “ethical” even mean? Is there anything they are proud of their country for doing? Or how are they being underserved by their country and what can they personally do about it?
