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Fake news has existed from the very beginning of humanity since humans have a natural sense of not only saying the truth but also the ability to deceive others. Today it still exists and moreover these days when we have different means of spreading whatever we want in a matter of seconds.

The impact of fake news can be very significant because it can threaten many things that surround us in this world. For example, government things, journalism, not to mention many other things in our daily lives. According to The Guardian for example, fake news on Facebook relating to President Trump’s election was a kind of boom since most people believed that that election was influenced by Russian government. This kind of news does not affect only adults but it also affects children. Children get misled to do things they do not understand, but they do it just as a matter of curiosity or just because of the living moment. Checking Eyewitness News, one can realize how fake news is harming kids. This news is changing children’s views about their surroundings and influencing them to do wrong things.  

The teaching of critical literacy has been important for it helps all of us to identify real news from fake ones. Nevertheless, this is not an easy job since it is not so simple to distinguish between truthful news from fake ones. It is important to notice that not many countries are teaching critical literacy. Teachers have to be aware of this phenomenon in order to teach their pupils how to identify and not to believe in everything they read or hear even in the media or anywhere else.

In our Colombian context, we as teachers have to empower the students to be critical at the very moment they see or hear some kind of news. I think we can achieve it just by teaching them how to be critical to all news. This means showing them that we cannot believe every piece of information we get without checking first the veracity of it. We have to tell them that they need to search for different sources to verify if the news they got is trustworthy.



Comentarios

  1. Dear Alfredo,
    Something that really caught my attention was this part of your commentary:
    "... humanity since humans have a natural sense of not only saying the truth but also the ability to deceive others". Where did you take this from? Does it really happen in that way? Personally speaking, I had never thought about it in that way.

    In spite of all this, I consider your final paragraph to be really pertinent. It is our duty (as educators) to help our children become critical towards these threatening realities.

    Regards,
    Jhon Losada

    ResponderBorrar

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