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Recognizing fake news, being savvy about social media and resisting cyberbullying would be a required part of California school curriculum under a bill now making its way through the Legislature.
Assembly Bill 873, authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, would direct the state’s Instructional Quality Commission to incorporate media literacy into K-12 curriculum in English language arts, math, science, history and social studies frameworks. Eventually, all public school students would receive media literacy lessons every year, in every class.
“We need to make sure the next generation has the critical thinking skills and analytic skills to be discerning about what they’re bombarded with online,” Berman said. “My hope is that students talk to their parents about this, too.”
In 2018, California passed optional media literacy guidelines, which focus on teaching about online privacy and safety, conducting research online and other topics related to internet use. This bill goes further in that it addresses misinformation and social media use specifically, and would be required in classrooms.
The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and is now in the Senate Education Committee.
Also making its way through the Legislature is a related bill, AB787, by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, D-Woodland Hills, which would require State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to survey schools to gauge the current state of media literacy education in California, and then devise a model program to implement statewide.
But AB873, if it passes, would bring media literacy to classrooms much sooner.
“We believe these two bills, if signed into law, would bring California to the forefront of this important policy area and ensure our students are well-equipped to face the rapidly evolving digital, online landscape,” said Kami Peer, California policy manager at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on youth and media.
If either or both bills pass, California would join a growing number of states that are adopting media literacy curriculum, in part due to concern about the rise of misinformation online and teenagers’ increasing use of social media. In most states, the guidelines are optional, but in a few – New Jersey, Delaware and Texas – the lessons are mandatory. In almost all cases, media literacy is taught in existing classes, but in some states it’s a stand-alone class.
Berman said he was inspired to write the bill when he learned that social media is the primary source of news for many people, including teenagers.
“Misinformation and disinformation is rampant on social media, and can lead to real-world terrifying events like Jan. 6 and the large percentage of people who believe the election was stolen,” he said.
A 2019 Stanford study found that two-thirds of students surveyed couldn’t differentiate between editorial content and advertising, and 96% didn’t understand why a climate-change website funded by a fossil fuel company might be suspect.
Alvin Lee, a sophomore at Stanford and executive director of a student advocacy group called GENup, said he was inspired to support AB873 by the plethora of fake news on social media. He recalled how his mother asked him if Hillary Clinton was indeed running a child sex trafficking operation from a Washington, D.C., pizzeria. Known as “pizzagate,” the theory has been widely discredited as fake news, but that didn’t stop his mother from momentarily believing it.
“Misinformation is so prolific on social media,” Lee said. “It’s absolutely critical that we start thinking seriously about media literacy, for the sake of democracy and the future.”
Ideally, he’d like to see schools teach more than just skills like recognizing fake news. The topic should include information literacy, as well — the ability to critically analyze all information online and in print.
Peer, at Common Sense Media, said media literacy can have broad relevance in schools at all grade levels. When students learn how to do online research, for example, they need to understand plagiarism and copyright law. When they start exploring social media, they should learn about privacy and etiquette. When they create their own TikTok videos, they need to be responsible for sharing accurate, credible information. When they study current events, they need to recognize whether a source is reliable and fair.
It’s important for schools to take on media literacy because “schools are dealing with the ramifications, including issues such as online safety, cyberbullying, privacy, hate speech, misinformation and digital distraction,” Peer said.
“Digital literacy equips students, families and school staff with the knowledge to thoughtfully navigate and safely engage with digital content,” Peer added. “It also empowers young people to analyze and assess the influence of content on their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.”
The system has enrolled more in-state residents, but not enough to meet targets set by the state.
Two prominent organizations say the proposal would dismantle progress made to improve reading instruction for those students.
Fresno City College professor Tom Boroujeni is unable to fulfill his duties as academic senate president while on leave, the latest update reads.
This is a continuing EdSource series on proven innovations in higher education that relate to the problems facing California’s higher education systems.
Comments (6)
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Linda 10 months ago10 months ago
Who is going to decide what is “disinformation” and the truth?? For almost 3 years, we have been fed a lot of ‘disinformation’ from some of our most trusted sources… which now have shown their true colors
Sasha 10 months ago10 months ago
I am very excited this subject is making headlines! Media literacy is crucial for today's young people. As a teacher-librarian, I teach information literacy - all that is referenced above - to middle school and high school students. In addition to an English credential, I also hold a Teacher-Librarian Credential, a Special Class Authorization to teach departmentalized instruction in information literacy, digital literacy, and digital citizenship, and a master's in library and information science. It … Read More
I am very excited this subject is making headlines! Media literacy is crucial for today’s young people.
As a teacher-librarian, I teach information literacy – all that is referenced above – to middle school and high school students. In addition to an English credential, I also hold a Teacher-Librarian Credential, a Special Class Authorization to teach departmentalized instruction in information literacy, digital literacy, and digital citizenship, and a master’s in library and information science. It seems that teacher-librarians are the most equipped to lead the way in this effort.
This bill does mention the Model School Library Standards by suggesting that the bill “consider incorporating the Model Library Standards into the next revision of the English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD).” Does that mean that teacher-librarians will be enlisted to teach what they are credentialed to do? Or does that mean that ELA/ELD teachers will do the job of the teacher-librarian? ELA teachers are skilled in teaching the nuances and fundamentals of the English language, not media literacy.
I think the bill should be: Hire credentialed teacher-librarians at every level, TK-12, to teach media literacy and/or help incorporate it into the curriculum.
For the record, California ranks last in the U.S. in teacher-librarians per pupil.
Paul Muench 10 months ago10 months ago
I’d love to see EdSource become a trend setter in terminology. All media is social, so why not capitalize Social Media when it means the online content implied in this article.
john 10 months ago10 months ago
media literacy misnomer alert! correct title /name- indoctrination to leftist/socialist/communist agenda government censorship brainwashingtraining students to let the government think for them!transhumanism one step closer, congrats!
Dr. Bill Conrad 10 months ago10 months ago
Seems like we are experiencing some significant hutzpah from state leaders in seeking media literacy when only 47% of students can read at grade level and fewer than 1/4 of Black students are at grade level. It seems as though the state ought to keep their eye on the reading literacy ball. No? Maybe even actively promote or, I know this is anathema, mandate the science of reading be implemented and monitored in all school districts! Better … Read More
Seems like we are experiencing some significant hutzpah from state leaders in seeking media literacy when only 47% of students can read at grade level and fewer than 1/4 of Black students are at grade level.
It seems as though the state ought to keep their eye on the reading literacy ball. No?
Maybe even actively promote or, I know this is anathema, mandate the science of reading be implemented and monitored in all school districts!
Better to stay focused on the right stuff rather than pursue every educational bauble that lights up before their eyes! No?
Replies
Sasha 10 months ago10 months ago
Hi Bill, I agree that the science of reading is a must! We need kids to know how to read before so that they can comprehend and analyze what they're reading. I'm not sure about the suggestion that it's the only thing we should be teaching, though. Out with math, science, social studies, and every other subject that involves reading? I think we can and should be doing both. And I think media literacy is … Read More
Hi Bill,
I agree that the science of reading is a must! We need kids to know how to read before so that they can comprehend and analyze what they’re reading.
I’m not sure about the suggestion that it’s the only thing we should be teaching, though. Out with math, science, social studies, and every other subject that involves reading? I think we can and should be doing both. And I think media literacy is not something that we can leave for students to figure out on their own. Students need direct instruction on this also, for higher-level thinking and writing. There is work to be done on so many fronts.