1. We the people...
In wake of Saturday's March for our Lives protest, a video circulated of Parkland survivor and gun-control activist Emma Gonzalez ripping up a copy of the Constitution. Turns out, this picture is more fake news.
Gab - a self-described "social network where people, free expression, and individual liberty come first." - posted the doctored video on their Twitter on March 24. It received thousands of interactions before it became clear that the original video was from a Teen Vogue photoshoot where Gonzalez ripped up a target.
Teen Vogue chief content officer, Phillip Picardi confirmed that the poster was not the Constitution. He said, "The fact that we even have to clarify this is proof of how democracy continues to be fractured by people who manipulate and fabricate the truth."
Something to chew on when your kid is looking at Kim's latest Insta post...
Clearly, beauty isn't in the eye of the beholder, it's in the eye of the Photoshopper. Since truth can be manipulated until falsehoods becomes the new reality, how can we help kids sort through the lies and determine truth?
Well, the News Literacy Project has created curriculum to educate students to spot fake news and give kids this education right in the classroom. But you don't need a class to teach your kids these tactics. When your kid tells you they heard the "craziest thing!" try out some of these questions:
-Where did you hear that? How do you know that's a reliable source?
-What sources did the author cite?
-What other publications are covering this story?
2. T'Challa's still crushing it
This past weekend, Marvel's "Black Panther" snuck up the ranks to become the highest grossing superhero film of all time. And since Wakanda doesn't know how to be anything but the best, it's on track to pass "Titanic," the third biggest domestic release of all time.
Something other than popcorn to munch on when your child picks "Moana" for your family movie night for the umpteenth time...
*Let's get more diverse. *
In case you haven't been part of the buzz in the past few months, "Black Panther" is a big deal for several reasons: one being that the majority of the cast and crew are black. This has never happened at this large of scale. Some of the praise for the film has been for the representation of various cultures.
Did you know that by as young as six months, babies stare longer at photos of adults who are a different race than they are? Curiosity about culture and race is a natural thing. You can use the hype around "Black Panther" as a conversation with your children about how everyone has different stories and cultures and all deserve respect.
Children will learn the most about respecting different cultures by watching how their parents interact with those different than them, but parents can also cultivate cultural learning experiences by cooking foods as a family from different cultures. Try Kimchi, Bulgur cabbage rolls, fresh spring rolls, pupusas, or so many others.
4. Daily Data
5. What's trending
Pokemon Go
If your child's a Pokemon Go fan, they're probably jazzed about the new quest the creators have given Go users to discover if a "series of mysterious happenings" is connected with Mew. If not, well, they probably haven't thought about Pokemon Go since 2016.