Today’s generation of students faces a unique challenge that many of us never had to worry about: having a cell phone. And with that, the accompanying responsibility.
Practically every teenager has access to a digital device, particularly smartphones, data from the Pew Research Center suggests. 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 90% have access to a desktop or laptop computer. Additionally, their reliance on social media is staggering. More than half of teens (54%) say it would be difficult to give up social media.
What’s most concerning, given technology and the internet’s grip on America’s youth, is what they’re being exposed to, according to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to decipher what’s real and what’s not, and “our democracy remains under sustained attack through the proliferation of disinformation that is eroding the role of truth in our political and civic discourse,” he said in a statement.
To combat misinformation’s toll on students, Gov. Murphy signed a law on Wednesday that requires media literacy to be taught at every grade level in public schools, making New Jersey the first in the nation to do so. Advocates believe it will aid students who are constantly exposed to information on social media and news outlets in determining who and what is credible.
“It is our responsibility to ensure our nation’s future leaders are equipped with the tools necessary to identify fact from fiction,” he said.
I am proud to sign a first-in-the-nation, bipartisan law to equip NJ students with tools to identify fact from fiction.
K-12 media literacy education will empower future leaders to accurately assess information — essential in preserving our democracy in a time of disinformation.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 4, 2023
The bill was met with tremendous bipartisan support last month by Legislature, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Living in the digital era gives us access to endless information, but not all is equal,” according to Assemblymembers Dan Benson, Pamela Lampitt and Mila Jasey in a joint statement. “That is why it’s so important to prepare students in New Jersey with a robust information literacy education. The Learning Standards will provide New Jersey students with the foundational skills necessary to effectively engage with and evaluate information found online.”
The law, effective immediately, requires the N.J. Department of Education to implement a set of “information literacy” standards. The Commissioner of the Department of Education will convene a committee comprised of certified school library media specialists and teaching staff to develop these standards to be reviewed by experts as they are developed.
“This will provide the opportunity for collaboration among teachers and school library media specialists to advance information literacy in the K-12 learning standards,” according to a press release.
“Information literacy is more important now than ever before, especially with the growing prevalence of social media and online news,” according to Acting Commissioner of Education Angelica Allen-McMillan. “Students for generations will be well-served by this legislation, which sets into statute the requirement for schools to provide instruction on information literacy.”
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