‘Media literacy belongs at the heart of this bold new curriculum’

The Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the Government’s response, may have quietly set in train one of the most important and enduring legacies of this Labour administration.

As part of an effort to bring our education system in line with the challenges facing young people today, Professor Becky Francis and her team has concluded reported that media literacy should be strengthened across our school system. In an age of deep fakes, AI chat bots, toxic influencers and algorithmic influence, teaching young people how to think critically about what they see and share online is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’.

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Children and their teachers know this change is badly needed. Research from Pears Foundation’s Commission into Countering Online Conspiracies in Schools tells us that educators, parents and young people themselves are deeply concerned about the spread of conspiracy beliefs, misinformation and disinformation. 

Profound implications for democracy

Left unchecked, these falsehoods lead to a breakdown in our shared sense of what is true, who to trust, and how we disagree. That has profound implications for our democracy.

The research shows that young people and adults now live in very different information worlds. Pupils are far more likely to get their news from social media or word of mouth than from TV bulletins or newspapers. On platforms like TikTok, short, highly emotive videos are pushed by opaque algorithms, meaning teachers and parents often do not see the kind of content that is shaping young people’s thinking, while children themselves describe falling down “rabbit holes”, seeing more and more of the same kind of content, stripped of context. 

This can leave young people living in radically different information environments, not only from their parents, but from their peers – and almost a third report a friendship or romantic relationship becoming more difficult because of an opinion the other person has formed. We see this playing out in our politics too, in the divergence of political opinion along gender lines among younger people, with recent opinion polling showing young men moving towards hard right parties at a much higher rate than their female peers. 

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There are some more hopeful findings from the research. Trust in adults – especially teachers – remains high among younger teenagers. Parents and pupils alike identify teachers as among the most credible people to help children navigate online conspiracies. But teachers themselves report feeling under-prepared and under-supported. Many say they are being asked to confront complex conspiracy claims without training, time, or clear guidance, and that existing non-statutory advice on online safety is nowhere near enough. 

It has been heartening to see some of the work already underway to tackle this challenge. The new Centre for Digital Literacy in Schools, established by the National Institute of Teaching and the Pears Foundation, will provide those starting their teaching careers, and those who have been teaching for many years, with the tools they need to help support pupils through the complex online world. 

Now the Department for Education has the important task of implementing this review across schools and colleges. Our goal should be that every young person leaves school able to ask basic critical questions of information: 

• Who is saying this? 
• What evidence is there
• What is missing?
• And who benefits from me believing it?

We must recognise that vulnerability to conspiracy belief is often rooted in marginalisation. The Commission’s analysis suggests that young people who feel the world is stacked against them – that people “like them” are pushed to the margins and that life is getting worse for ordinary families – are more receptive to conspiratorial narratives. 

Rebuilding trust, empowering citizens

Tackling that mindset means more than teaching fact-checking techniques. It means addressing the underlying injustices of insecure work, unaffordable housing, crumbling public services and a politics that has too often talked at communities rather than with them.

This is where Labour has a unique opportunity. Our government is already committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, rebuilding trust in politics and renewing our public realm. A serious, evidence-led approach to media literacy belongs firmly inside that project. It is about equipping every child to participate confidently in civic life, not be buffeted by whatever their algorithm serves up next.

If we get this right, we will do more than counter the latest conspiracy doing the rounds on TikTok. We will raise a generation of active citizens who can weigh evidence, listen to others and distinguish serious disagreement from dangerous falsehood – empowering them to participate in civic life.

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With the greatest expansion of the franchise in decades through delivering votes at 16, this Labour government has a generational opportunity to revitalise young people’s political engagement. The events of last summer showed us how mis- and disinformation online can spill over into the real world. At a precarious time for our shared civic life, this review is not a technocratic add-on to the curriculum – it is an opportunity to deliver on our ambition for a better politics.

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