Teach schoolchildren how to spot fake news, says OECD
Summary
Fake News has become a hotly debated topic, since the USA Presidential Elections between Hilary Clinton & Donald Trump. With this growing issue, the OECD (Organisation of Economic Co - Operation and Development) say that kids should be taught at school how to spot fake news, establishing what is fact and what is fiction. ThinkTank's (an organization that performs research and advocacy concerning topics) Director for education and skills said "Distinguishing what is true from what is not is a critical skill today" and "This is something that we believe schools can do something about". Andreas Schleicher of OECD said "In the past, when you needed information, you went to an encyclopedia, you looked it up and you could trust the information to be true". However with the rise in fake news this is quite evidently not the case anymore.
Key Statistics
- Computer-based “global competencies” tests will be taken by 15-year-olds around the world alongside the OECD’s current reading, maths and science assessments, which are conducted every three years.
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My Opinion
While I agree that fake news is a big issue, I do not know if I could agree with the statement that how to spot fake news should be taught in schools. This is because teaching it in schools just gives the creators a more public platform to gather more ammunition to find the weak spots of society and better the spreading of fake news that they are doing. For instance, if children are only taught how to spot it on social media because so many of us use it nowadays there are many other outlets that the culprits could exploit. They could publish on TV (through selling believable looking material to media organisations) and in the newspapers etc.
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