By Angela Atabo
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and its companions have unveiled a media and data literacy e book to assist youngsters aged six to 10 establish misinformation, pretend 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, stated schooling remained the simplest software for combating pretend information, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation.
Barreto da Rosa, stated “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 stated UNESCO was supporting the initiative as a result of media and data literacy was central to its efforts to selling accountable use of social media and data.
Similarly, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, Dr Lateef Idowu Olagunju, stated the workbook would assist youngsters entry dependable data and develop important pondering expertise earlier than sharing information.
Olagunju stated youngsters wanted to learn to query data, set up its supply and understood the motives behind its publication to maintain them from harms means.
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 stated mother and father and different stakeholders ought to work collectively to information youngsters’s engagement with media and know-how.
Omotoso defined that folks shouldn’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 data dysfunction.
In her remarks, Okafor-Onumah stated the initiative was developed to deal with the rising problem of misinformation and disinformation by instilling accountable data habits in youngsters from an early age.
She stated many current interventions focused adults, journalists and younger individuals, whereas the inspiration believed that influencing data habits early may promote lasting behavioural change.
Okafor-Onumah defined that the workbook contained six missions designed to make studying interactive and pleasant whereas serving to youngsters develop lifelong media and data literacy expertise.
She added {that a} facilitator’s information had additionally been developed to help academics, mother and father and neighborhood 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 neighborhood gatherings, making media literacy schooling a shared duty.
She stated the initiative would search partnerships with people and organisations prepared to undertake colleges, significantly in rural and underserved communities, to make sure that youngsters outdoors city centres additionally benefitted.
Okafor-Onumah stated the books had been presently not on the market, because the organisers supposed to evaluate their usefulness and impression 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 increase entry amongst youngsters in communities the place English was not broadly spoken.
She stated the initiative was designed to advertise a whole-of-society strategy to tackling data manipulation and strengthening data integrity in Nigeria.
She expressed hope that the workbook would assist nurture a technology of youngsters able to critically evaluating data, verifying details and making accountable selections about what they eat and share. (NAN)
ATAB/KOO
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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa
