I’m pissed off this week. Can I say that?

I feel duped honestly. Like someone has kept the wool pulled over my eyes and I’m just now realizing. As most of the world has, I’ve heard of “fake news” and know what it is. I even pride myself on being fairly savvy and able to detect fake news when I see it. Alas, I am not savvy nor proud. I am only really learning now how much I have blindly put my trust into organizations and websites that I see online, because they “seem” to be trustworthy and legit. Chris B. shared the article A Reminder That ‘Fake News’ Is An Information Literacy Problem – Not A Technology Problem which states “we’ve stopped teaching society how to think about information, leaving our citizenry adrift in the digital wilderness increasingly saturated with falsehoods without so much as a compass or map to help them find their way to safety”. I feel this statement. I feel like an idiot. Completely lost in the “digital wilderness”.

I guess my anger more so stems from my role as a parent. If I have no other task in the world, it is my job to keep my kids safe. The mama bear in me is angry that my children are being constantly exposed to false information and have not been taught ways to navigate this. Their teachers and I have been able to teach my kids to be book literate, math literate, food literate, physically literate … but if I am not even digitally literate, how can I expect my kids and students to be?

I have two examples from this week alone of media illiteracy. The first is me; I ordered some bathing suits online from an ad that was in my Facebook news feed (I know, seriously Leah?). I thought I was being quite savvy as I checked out the “about” section of the website and looked at reviews. The about section was even a little sketchy but I chose to ignore my gut feeling because the bathing suits were like, so cute! *insert eye roll* I went ahead and ordered them then continued to scroll Facebook. Suddenly, there is ad after ad for bathing suits – the exact same bathing suits I ordered – but all under a different company name. I’m not saying I’m not going to get my merchandise, and maybe I will like them, but the fact that there are several different websites all selling the same suits is super sketchy in my books.

My second example is more serious. My 89 year old grandfather, who was a salesman his whole life, and was very savvy with his money, etc. has been speaking with a gentleman (jackass) that has convinced him he has won 2 million dollars and just needs to send them $8000 to complete the transaction. My grampa ain’t no fool … well, he wasn’t, but he has fallen, hook, line and sinker, into this too common trap we hear about all the time on the news. Holly’s article reminds us “no one is immune from believing misinformation”.

I suppose, in short, I’m pissed at all the people out there that create, spread and share fake news. And I’m pissed because I feel like we are failing our youth. Holly’s first article states: “The amount of information at [students’] fingertips leaves educators with a huge task of helping students navigate the world of media.” It’s time for society to step up and start serving our youth properly.