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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 25, 2023 04:49 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Katie J. Muth |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Media Literacy Curriculum in Schools |
| A recent Pew Research Center survey found 50 percent of American adults at least sometimes got their news from a social media platform, including a disproportionate amount of internet-savvy teenagers and young adults. However, research has shown these young individuals are barely better at spotting disinformation compared to others. The future of our democracy is dependent upon each citizen being a critical consumer of information. In the near future, I will be introducing companion legislation to a House bill introduced by Representative Tim Briggs that would require the state Department of Education to establish a media literacy curriculum for Pennsylvania's students enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. This legislation is intended to help students discern whether sources are credible as they are bombarded with information from social media and other news outlets. The curriculum developed as a result of this bill would provide Pennsylvania's students with the necessary critical thinking skills and knowledge to evaluate the accuracy of news stories for themselves. The prominence of intentionally false stories made to appear as legitimate news reports has continued to increase, and “fake news” continues to do a disservice to our public discourse. Regardless of a person's political affiliation, opinions should not be presented as fact unless they are supported by facts. The sophistication in how this false information is disguised and spread can make it very difficult for someone, particularly young people, to determine fact from fiction. Accordingly, the Pennsylvania Department of Education should establish a media literacy curriculum, create a list of resources and materials on media literacy for school districts, and make approved media literacy training opportunities available for use in teachers’ professional development programs. Similar legislation was recently enacted in New Jersey with strong bipartisan support, including a unanimous vote in the state Senate. Please consider co-sponsoring this legislation to ensure Pennsylvania’s students are well-equipped to think critically and determine fact from opinion. |
Introduced as SB496