Media literacy belongs in every classroom

Opinion

As a five-year-old, I used to sit on the steps waiting for my father to come home from work not for a toy or a treat, but for a copy of the Stabroek News — the daily newspaper. I would see him walking up the street with the paper tucked under his arm and would run to meet him, grab the paper and run away eager to get started with reading.

I’d flip through every page, soaking in the smell of ink and the texture of the paper. There’s something special, even magical, about reading a newspaper.

I only understood a quarter of what I read but it was my favourite part of the day. I had questions, so many questions. I wanted to know everything.

Fast-forward to today, and kids don’t have to wait at the top of the stairs for the news. They have access to more information than I could have ever imagined at their age. It’s all right there, at their fingertips, all the time. My younger self would’ve been envious of the luxury of search engines, YouTube explainers and ChatGPT giving instant answers. But that same luxury comes with risk.

Unlimited access doesn’t mean unlimited understanding. If anything, the digital flood of content makes it harder to distinguish fact from fiction, truth from trend. That’s why I’m so pleased to hear that the Manitoba government, the Free Press, and the Winnipeg School Division have launched a new media literacy platform for K–12 classrooms.

Bravo! This is exactly the kind of foundational work we need to be doing — not as a quick fix, and not just for teens or post-secondary students, but from the very beginning of a child’s education.

As a communications professional, I’ve written before about the need for adults to arm themselves with the tools to recognize and challenge misinformation. We’ve all seen how damaging it can be when unverified content is accepted at face value, or when echo chambers reinforce dangerous or misleading beliefs. Teaching these skills in school, and treating media literacy as essential, like math or reading, is exactly the kind of systemic solution we need to ensure that our kids can find the information in the clutter of misinformation.

Media literacy isn’t just about fact-checking. It’s about developing a critical lens and learning how to analyze, question, and understand the forces behind the information we consume. It’s the ability to ask: Who made this? Why? What’s missing? What does this mean for me and my community?

The dual focus of this initiative is perfect because it means that students won’t just learn how to critically consume media, but they’ll also be encouraged to create it responsibly. Empowering students to tell their own stories, whether through student-run newspapers, multimedia projects, or interactions with local journalists is a wonderful way to flip the script. It transforms them from passive consumers into engaged, thoughtful participants in the media landscape.

And let’s be honest: if you ask a classroom of kids what they want to be when they grow up, many of them will say, “a YouTuber” or “a content creator.” That’s not a bad thing. Based on the number of influencers I follow on Instagram and the lifestyles they afford, I’d say it can be a pretty lucrative career. But it’s also a big responsibility. So, teaching kids how to be ethical and informed creators and showing them what it means to use their platforms for truth, not just clicks, is the right way forward.

Side note, I’m all for supporting the creation of more journalists. A healthy, thriving press is a cornerstone of any democracy.

As I see journalists around the world end up in prison, or lose their lives, in the pursuit of truth and justice, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to live in a country that supports a free press, and a province that is taking concrete steps to ensure future generations understand its value, protect its integrity, and engage with it thoughtfully.

We don’t just need more information in this world. We need more discernment. More curiosity. More truth-seeking. More kids asking the hard questions and learning how to find meaningful answers.

This initiative isn’t just a curriculum update. It’s a cultural investment. It lays the groundwork for a generation of media-literate citizens who know how to think for themselves and how to find their way through the noise.

Even now, when I travel, I always buy a newspaper. And just like back then, I probably only understand a quarter of what I read but I sure do feel sophisticated doing it.

Samantha Turenne is a Winnipeg writer.