Week 12: Politifact
Image: Ms. B at a podium with a chalkboard behind her with the word "FACTS" written.
The stress of sorting through what is true and not true on the internet is no joke; and during an election year, it feels like a full-time job! As part of teaching students information and digital literacy, a useful tool is PolitiFact. This award winning website is a useful tool that fact-checks news in a nonpartisan way (that sounds like a miracle right there!). They give ratings for how true something is, if the politician has flipped their stance on an issue, and how campaign promises are fulfilled.
PolitiFact is an easy way to introduce students to the importance of fact-checking information, particularly related to politics and has the potential to open up great conversations. It was a little disheartening (though not surprising) to see that most of the latest fact-checks on the home page were definitely not true.
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Based on my own social network, I can see some folks deliberately avoiding this website or anything else that fact-checks because they don't want to find out their deeply held beliefs might be incorrect. Even I felt personally attacked when a political figure I respect had a less than TRUE truth-o-meter rating. That's why introducing this tool to secondary students (I think maybe 7th grade and older) can help normalize the need to assess the validity of statements made by politicians and help inform future voters. And, of course, this tool should not be limited to just election seasons (which seem to extend longer and longer each cycle), but can and should be used regularly. I could see using this as a quick start of each class to see what's being said online and determining if it's true. A deeper dive could be done on occasion or as a homework assignment or something, but even just a few quick minutes can begin to instill the importance of checking your facts before believing everything that's posted online.
So, gear up for even more craziness this election season. Take some (many) deep breaths, be informed, fact check, and then get out there to vote!
Image: Bitmoji of Ms. B holding hands with a ballot box and excited to vote with the text "Show up and vote!"
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