Verifying information

According to Webster, verify means: make sure or demonstrate that (something) is true, accurate, or justified.

Why is this important and why do we have to tell our kids to do this?

Well, first of all fake news is now “real” news! You honestly can’t tell between the two. To know if what you hear or read is actually true you have to address it from multiple angles to see if things are consistent.

I think it is also very important to teach children that you can relay information but you have to give rights to the people who deserve it. When I was teaching high school it was amazing how many kids didn’t understand the true meaning of plagiarism. You can agree with anything you want, but you can’t call it your own. I think by ingraining this in young kids they will be more apt to want to develop their own things.

It isn’t just about teaching children about verifying information it is also important to teach them how to identify reliable sources. It is comical to see that a student will use Facebook as their source! Also, there are so many magazines and online sites that say they are reliable, but the articles on their sites are not backed up by any sort of research.

Teaching children about verifying information is a form of teaching children honesty and integrity.