Studies have shown that social media often has fake news in it. Several states have considered and even passed laws on teaching media literacy skills in schools. Should we push for laws to teach kids how to tell facts from fiction in schools?

Media literacy is being able to tell fact from fiction while surfing the internet, or using social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. Misinformation is becoming an increasing problem on social media.

In the article "Spread of fake news prompts literacy efforts in schools" from Associated Press, they consider whether media literacy skills should be taught in public schools. There is a lot of fake news online and many lawmakers are considering passing laws to teach media literacy in schools.

Already, legislators in several states have passed bills with more strict rules on teaching media literacy in schools. The lawmakers say they are critical to democracy. Many studies show that most children don't understand most of what they are doing online, even though they are spending hours at a time surfing the web. With the number of times kids and teens are spending on Social Media, I think it is necessary to teach at least basic skills.

People took a long time to realize that social media and fake news sometimes go together, but once they did, they also wanted something done about it. You can't get rid of the misinformation, but you can teach how to be aware of it.
In Washington State, there is a law requiring a survey to see how teachers, librarians, and principals are using media literacy in their curriculum. With already a part of the states passing bills about teaching literacy, it could become laws required by all the states.

Foley, Ryan J. "Spread of fake news prompts literacy efforts in schools."
Associated Press, 9 Jan. 2018.