Teens learn and live online. How is Delaware trying to boost struggling media literacy?

USA Today

07-02-2025

Teens learn and live online. How is Delaware trying to boost struggling media literacy?
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Fewer than 2 in 10 teens could correctly answer three questions asking them to distinguish between information types like news, advertisement, opinion and entertainment, according to a recent report.
Then state Sen. Sarah McBride introduced "The Digital Citizenship Education Act" in 2021, with aims to make Delaware one of the first states to require media literacy teaching standards in schools.
The law required the state to adopt standards that are age-appropriate for K-12 and they had to address healthy online behavior.
These new standards didn't reach the classroom until last school year, and by next spring, each district and charter is tasked with reports to the state education department on their progress.
American teens spend hours scrolling.
Children and young adults alike dive into social media platforms, pulled into a loop of constant entertainment and advertisements, even rumors and conspiracy theories. This week marks National News Literacy Week, and the focus for 2025 is increasing news literacy among teens inundated with information.
USA TODAY Network partnered with the News Literacy Project to reach more families and educators under the same goal while offering activities and grant opportunities for teachers. This comes as the News Literacy Project also published a national report showing some 94% of teens believe schools should be required to teach media literacy.
The same survey showed, among other findings:
Fewer than 2 in 10 teens could correctly answer three questions asking them to distinguish between information types like news, advertisement, opinion and entertainment.
Nearly half of teens, or 45%, believed the news press does more to harm democracy than protect it.
About 8 in 10 teens reported seeing conspiracy theory posts on social media. A combined 51% said that came daily or weekly.
Just less than a quarter of those surveyed say they regularly, either daily or weekly, use generative artificial intelligence technologies.
National politics remain sharply polarized. TikTok is back, while President Donald Trump's order briefly staying its ban falls into a "gray area" of legal logistics. Updates and orders from the second Trump Administration have also been unfolding minute-by-minute, while hopes, rumors and fears develop simultaneously.
There may not be a more important time to help students become critical consumers of news or develop skills to spot misinformation. Technology and access won't stop evolving.
"Our citizens are not armed with the necessary tools to be discerning consumers of news and information online," said U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, thinking back to Delaware legislation still taking shape. "Especially in this increasingly digital world where so many, especially young people, are obtaining their news not just online – but from non-verified news sources online."
So what can Delaware do about it?
Still trying to train the next generation of 'critical consumers'
McBride remembers taking a walk with Sen. Laura Sturgeon.
In the continued grip of the pandemic shutdown, the pair of then-state senators would often try to walk outside. And in early 2021, both lawmakers were trying to digest the aftermath of Jan. 6, wherein conspiracy theories, misinformation and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud spurred action at the Capitol.
"And we were discussing: What more can be done to combat the reality of disinformation and misinformation online that is fostering radicalization, in some cases, extremism?" McBride recalled, now in Washington D.C., beginning her first term as a Delaware congresswoman.
"It was spurred by Jan. 6, but it wasn't specific to Jan. 6," she continued. "After we started to have this larger conversation about disinformation and misinformation online, we see impact to people of every ideology and background and political persuasion."
McBride would introduce "The Digital Citizenship Education Act" in 2021, with bipartisan aims to make Delaware one of the first states to formally require media literacy teaching standards in schools. By the summer of 2022, it passed both state chambers and was signed into law by then-Gov. John Carney.
Looking back: How Delaware is taking the lead in teaching media literacy
The bill had a host of requirements to explore, and guidance got more involved from there after work from the state Department of Education, professional development staff, school district and charter school librarians, instructional technology specialists and more.
The law required the state to adopt standards that are age-appropriate for K-12 and they had to address healthy online behavior – including acceptable use of online platforms, the negative impact of inappropriate technology use, identifying credible sources of information, developing critical thinking skills, identifying the purpose of media messages and issues associated with cybersafety, cyberbullying, hate speech and more.
Coming standards – broken down by elementary, middle school and high school – get a bit heavy with jargon, as previously reported, but students should step away with skills like:
Engaging in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology
Using a variety of communication tools and resources
Managing personal data to maintain digital privacy ad security
Evaluating the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information
Making critical choices about information sources to use
Questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information
Establishing connections with other learners
Using collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions
Using technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to collaborate with others
Recognizing target marketing strategies and persuasion techniques
Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives
Collecting information representing diverse perspectives
Evaluating a speaker's point of view, reasoning and use of evidence
Exhibiting empathy with a tolerance for diverse ideas
Educators are still trying to deliver on those expectations.
These new standards didn't reach the classroom until last school year, and by next spring, each district and charter is tasked with the first reports to the state education department on how they're being met. That will look different across each system as it comes together.
And as educators and instructional technology teams work to meet benchmarks – students, tech and the latest new app just keep evolving.
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'Look at it as life skills'
A high schooler held up his iPod Touch.
Kevin Wright still remembers the moment when he was student teaching around 2010. One of his students came up and asked if he could cite a meme.
"They showed me, and they're like, 'But look, this right here, it's a fact,'" Wright said with a smile, still not entirely sure if the student's Abraham Lincoln meme was a joke. "And that sparked a really interesting question and journey for me personally."
Fast forward to today, and both Jennifer Ashby and Wright have dedicated much of their time to these new standards in Appoquinimink School District. The instructional technology specialist and coordinator have also helped lend expertise in statewide peer networks as McBride's legislation has been slowly realized.
In some ways, the work is doomed to always be a few steps behind.
"We have to be mindful of not pigeonholing ourselves into mentioning specific platforms because tomorrow there's going to be a new one," Ashby said. "We're taking a step back and looking at it from not specifically TikTok or specifically this or specifically that – but how can we make them just global consumption, digital citizens?"
Media literacy instruction should evolve with students. At least, that's the idea.
"One of the central challenges in navigating this environment is that it is perpetually, and in some cases, more rapidly changing every single day," McBride said. "That is actually one of the reasons why, one of the many reasons why we sought the approach of education standards rather than more prescriptive curriculum."
Teams like Appo's throughout the state are tasked with fusing these standards into existing subjects and grade levels. That could be in science, word history or a kindergarten classroom. The overarching goal is to foster "internal skills," Wright explained, so students can thoughtfully challenge information sources, bias, intention and more.
Whether an educator or a parent, he said, you never quite know how children are getting and absorbing information. Similarly, success here is difficult to measure.
The first year was a gap study. This year, more school districts are finding ways to meet standards. Reports due next year will show where gaps still persist and what kind of difference this instruction is making across Delaware.
"I look at it as life skills," Wright said. "I think these are skills that we as adults need to have as well as children."
Got a story? Contact Kelly Powers at [e-mail].