Children and young people spend many hours online. But how well are they prepared to filter the flood of information and recognize disinformation? Telekom’s media literacy initiative Teachtoday and Telekom's interactive children's magazine Scroller support young people and their adult companions – such as parents, grandparents, and teachers – in becoming competent and confident in dealing with disinformation.
Children and young people are spending more and more time on the internet. According to a recent Bitkom study they use their smartphones for around two hours a day. Social media is by far the most important source of information for young people. This intensive use increases the risk of exposure to misinformation, overstatement and manipulated content.
The majority of young people are aware of this danger, according to the SINUS study from summer 2024. Most of those surveyed also believe that they are able to recognize “fake news” with “common sense”. That's good news. The bad news is that they rarely actively verify the credibility or accuracy of posts, messages or reports.
To help children and young people distinguish between real text, image and video content and fake or manipulated content, they need adults to guide them. Adults can help them develop a critical eye and learn strategies for evaluating media content. However, many parents feel helpless and wonder how they can support their children's media education.
Teachtoday: Media literacy is the key to safe surfing
The most common questions that parents have are: At what age should my child have their own smartphone? How can I protect my child from dangerous content, cyberbullying or disinformation? And how long should my child be allowed to use digital media, and what is age-appropriate? Thomas Schmidt knows the answers to these questions. He is a media educator and works with the Helliwood association to develop educational initiatives and programs, as well as with Teachtoday for Deutsche Telekom.
Thomas Schmidt advises: “In our work with young people and parents, we see that the young internet-generation meets adults with life experience. This is precisely where a situation at eye level arises. This is a good starting point for learning from each other.”
Deutsche Telekom's Teachtoday initiative offers practical tips, materials, and specific recommendations to help parents and teachers with media education. The initiative promotes media literacy in children, young people, and adults. Teachtoday is also a partner of the current campaign of Telekom against disinformation – “Let's question what we share”.
The topic dossier “Disinformation” on Teachtoday’s website vividly explains how disinformation arises, what risks it entails and how to recognize it. Parents and teachers will find numerous resources there for working on the topic together with their children and for sensitizing them to the critical handling of information.
Scroller: Learning how to distinguish fact from fake in a playful way
The interactive children's magazine SCROLLER is also educational, entertaining and informative. It is focusing on children aged 9 to 12 and their adult companions. The current magazine “Fact or Fake?” presents the topic of disinformation in a child-friendly way, teaching in an understandable and playful way how to distinguish real news from fake news. Children learn why it is important to question information and which characteristics can indicate a possible fake. Videos and quizzes and a separate parents' area provide support. Take a look and find answers to questions like: “What does Rapunzel have to do with misinformation?”
How to talk to young people about disinformation
Media literacy expert Thomas Schmidt has valuable tips on how adults and young people can talk about disinformation:
- Exploring together: Look at messages and content in social media and messenger groups together. Classify them together and question the content. What is the information about? Who could it harm or benefit? How does the information make you feel? You can also show examples of how information can be manipulated, for example, by using sensational headlines or fake images.
- Checking facts together: Show the younger generation how to check sources. What have others reported about it? Are further sources referenced? Use fact-checking sites like CORRECTIV to verify information.
- Explain filter bubbles: Using TikTok, YouTube & Co. as examples, you can show how algorithms work and why children often see content that confirms their opinions. Are you both interested in football or music? Compare the content or search results in your news feed. Are there differences?
- Practice changing perspectives: Look for different opinions to broaden horizons. Practice role reversal: “If you were in the situation, how would you see it?”
- All questions are allowed: Avoid overreacting if the child comes across questionable content and shows it to you. Build trust. A good relationship and regular conversations are more effective than strict controls. Do you, as an adult, have a technical question or want to learn more about social media? Then use your child's expertise and put it in the role of an expert.
- Encourage dialogue – online and offline. With children and young people aged 12 and up, asking targeted questions can also help to strengthen media literacy: “How do you know that the information is accurate?”, “Have you already compared this with another source?” or “How did this video or post affect you emotionally? Do you think that was the intention?”
With this supportive and open approach, adult companions can better prepare children to use digital media safely and help them recognize disinformation independently.
Click here for the Teachtoday dossier on disinformation: techtoday.de
And here directly to the scroller: scroller.de
