By Angela Atabo
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and its companions have unveiled a media and knowledge literacy e book to assist youngsters aged six to 10 establish misinformation, faux information and on-line risks.
The workbook, entitled “Young Truth Detectives (YTD),” is written by Mrs Chiamaka Okafor-Onumah, Executive Director of the Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue Foundation (MILID Foundation).
The public presentation of the YTD and the facilitators information was hosted by UNESCO,MILID Foundation, Zedx Original and Two Books One Pen Enhancement Initiative, on Thursday, in Abuja.
Speaking on the occasion, UNESCO Representative to Nigeria and Head of its Abuja Office, Dr Isaías Barreto da Rosa, mentioned schooling remained the best software for combating faux information, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation.
Barreto da Rosa, mentioned “The two books address issues related to information literacy for children.This is an important topic.
“We see today all over the world an exponential increase when it comes to fake news, hate speech, disinformation, misinformation and this exponential increase of fake news, misinformation, disinformation and hate speech has to be fought.
“When we teach our young children how to be detectives of truth, how to check facts, how not to share information that are not verified, we are contributing to a better society and that is why this initiative is particularly important.”
He mentioned UNESCO was supporting the initiative as a result of media and knowledge literacy was central to its efforts to selling accountable use of social media and knowledge.
Similarly, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, Dr Lateef Idowu Olagunju, mentioned the workbook would assist youngsters entry dependable info and develop important pondering abilities earlier than sharing information.
Olagunju mentioned youngsters wanted to learn to query info, set up its supply and understood the motives behind its publication to maintain them from harms approach.
He counseled the event of digital studying assets, together with cartoons, to make media literacy classes extra accessible and fascinating for kids rising up within the digital age.
Dr Sharon Omotoso, Director of the International Media and Information Literacy Institute mentioned dad and mom and different stakeholders ought to work collectively to information youngsters’s engagement with media and know-how.
Omotoso defined that oldsters mustn’t solely monitor their youngsters’s on-line actions but in addition educate themselves about rising digital dangers.
According to her, youngsters face threats starting from on-line scams and identification theft to exploitation, safety breaches and the misuse of synthetic intelligence.
The director known as for wider media literacy schooling to equip youngsters with the data to guard themselves from dangerous on-line interactions and knowledge dysfunction.
In her remarks, Okafor-Onumah mentioned the initiative was developed to handle the rising problem of misinformation and disinformation by instilling accountable info habits in youngsters from an early age.
She mentioned many current interventions focused adults, journalists and younger folks, whereas the inspiration believed that influencing info habits early may promote lasting behavioural change.
Okafor-Onumah defined that the workbook contained six missions designed to make studying interactive and pleasing whereas serving to youngsters develop lifelong media and knowledge literacy abilities.
She added {that a} facilitator’s information had additionally been developed to assist lecturers, dad and mom and group members in delivering the teachings in each formal and casual settings.
According to her, the supplies can be utilized in colleges, church buildings, mosques and different group gatherings, making media literacy schooling a shared duty.
She mentioned the initiative would search partnerships with people and organisations prepared to undertake colleges, significantly in rural and underserved communities, to make sure that youngsters exterior city centres additionally benefitted.
Okafor-Onumah mentioned the books had been presently not on the market, because the organisers supposed to evaluate their usefulness and affect earlier than figuring out the following steps.
She added that though the supplies had been initially produced in English, the inspiration deliberate to translate them into native languages to broaden entry amongst youngsters in communities the place English was not extensively spoken.
She mentioned the initiative was designed to advertise a whole-of-society method to tackling info manipulation and strengthening info integrity in Nigeria.
She expressed hope that the workbook would assist nurture a era of kids able to critically evaluating info, verifying info and making accountable choices about what they eat and share. (NAN)
ATAB/KOO
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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa
