High School Teachers Help Students Spot Misinformation

Whitefish Bay High School educators Anna Gibson, Hannah Peterson and Dave Johnson welcome controversial topics in their classrooms, helping students identify what’s really “fake news.”

You’re listening to a Media Milwaukee podcast. I’m Callie Donavan.

I was a senior in high school in 2016 and 2017. Peers of mine were talking about La La Land’s Oscar Gate, Kendall Jenner’s attempt to end racism with a can of Pepsi, and the beginning of the hashtag MeToo movement. But one term seemed to permeate every conversation we had: fake news.

I took a class my sophomore and senior year called contemporary issues. I remember it as a course where students got to share their opinions… but were also asked to explain why they believed them. Our teacher was a fierce questioner and cracked conversations open like a walnut split with a nutcracker. I’ll let her introduce herself.

Anna: “My name is Anna Gibson. I am a high school social studies teacher at Whitefish Bay High School and I have taught a variety of courses including courses on contemporary issues.”

Anna took over the class in 2014. After graduating college, she taught for two and a half years in what is now known as North Macedonia for the United States Peace Corps. When she was hired at Bay shortly after… the course was hers to build from the ground up.

Anna: “Early on I realized there was a need for digital literacy, literacy around the news in general, how to access it, what to look for, how to not be condign to things when you’re searching the internet. We started building in mini lessons around the differences between mis and disinformation. What does that really mean and how is it being weaponized by different organizations and people when they don’t like the news that’s being reported. So, 2016/2017 really changed a lot of what the course looked like because we’d already been talking about it but then we really had to hone in on what does this look like. In what was probably three or four days of classes in 2015 or 2016 eventually turned into a six-week unit that we kind of started off   the semester off with.”

I think most people would credit former president Donald Trump with the popularization of the term “fake news.” But Hillary Clinton used it in a speech a month before Trump’s use of the term exploded into pop culture.

And it’s a term that was used here and there almost a century before it became a household word. Donald Trump would eventually use the phrase in an effort to confront questions and reports made by journalists throughout his time as president. The New Yorker reported in 2017 that Trump wrote “fake news” on Twitter 8 times in one day.

Anna says there was a definite shift in the classroom during this time, one that affected the way she taught.

Anna: “I feel like there was a lot of times when I had to check a student when a comment would come out and I would have to say, ‘Can you back that up? Your claim has to have evidence, otherwise there’s a concern that you’re going to be spreading a misinformation.’ And I had to in the moment make that decision of like, “Do I do that?” And the answer was yes, but how do you do it in a way to not try to demonize the student, but also not make them feel like their voice can’t be heard. So that balancing act is probably the most difficult thing that I had to do in my job.”

Six years after the 2016 election, people may be more accustomed to the idea that news cannot be taken at face value, even by reputable sources. But more than ever, journalists are questioning how they can avoid bias in their daily work… and news consumers are expecting them to follow through.

Anna: “I want students to be educated, informed citizens of the world and I want them to actively participate in their civic responsibilities. And I think the only way to do that with fidelity is with greater understanding of their own biases, their own privilege and knowing that if they’re going to access a certain news platform that they might be getting a particular version of the story line and that it’s important that they get their news from a variety of sources.”

“I always remind students that if you’re not paying for your news, someone is. So, who’s paying for it? I try to guide them but I also encourage them to look at what all the different places are saying that call themselves news. Because other people are accessing just those sources. So where are they getting their information from so you’re better at debunking it.”

Today, the “contemporary issues” class is taught by Hannah Peterson. When I first saw her during my time back at Whitefish Bay High School, she looked like a student. She wore a Milwaukee Bucks jersey and trendy Hoka athletic shoes that I was looking at buying just a month ago. She has put incredible time and effort into making this course her own. Hannah graduated in 2015… and took the class herself when she was a sophomore at Whitefish Bay.

Hannah: “So what I really remember about it was really the teacher more than anything else.”

“I really remember being an engaged learner. Not so in terms of like, ‘Oh I have to fill out this worksheet,’ or something of that nature where it’s kind of rudimentary work. What I so remember is the discussions.”  

“I remember walking into class not knowing what we are doing but also being confident in the routines graded in the classroom and in terms of supportive classmates to share minds. I remember being a student in contemporary issues when the Sandy Hook shooting happened. So, I very much remember coming to class sixth period, I do remember when I had it, and it was a developing story. That was one of the earliest mass shootings in a school setting.”

Hannah filled in teaching Anna’s class while Anna was on maternity leave.

Hannah: “I had the knowledge of what the course should look like and it’s different than the curriculum that I was presented. So, what I’ve been trying to do is a. keep my head above water and then b. kind of mend the two curriculums. The first one that I experienced as a student and the second one the curriculum I was provided from a teacher perspective.”

“I’m 24 years old, almost 25, and I think that the idea that I am closer in age to a lot of these students is to this class in particular an asset. I’m able to see what they’re seeing on my own time on Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, whatever. Although there are some gaps; they taught me on Friday about Reddit. I had no idea what Reddit is. And I could tell that I touched on something that might be inappropriate because they all looked at me and started laughing. I think the ability to relate to kids in terms of what they’re seeing at home, I’m able to, especially with misinformation, talk about what they’re seeing and maybe dispel some rumors.”

There’s a real demand for classes like this. At Whitefish Bay, Hannah says the most popular electives are in the social studies department.

Hannah: “Here at social studies we offer black history, world cultures, contemporary issues. The year following there will be leadership for social justice which has been cut due to the state of our world right now and wanting to remain out of the news a little bit because it’s come under fire by local politicians in years past.”

I spoke with the teacher who taught leadership for social justice when I was in high school, and who will be teaching it when it is offered again. Dave Johnson has taught social studies, including courses in economics, for 20 years at Bay. The class focuses on issues related to racism, sexism, ableism and heterosexism. We talked about why teaching classes related to culture and politics is tough, especially right now.

Dave: “There’s hypervigilance among certain parties who are suggesting that we are teaching critical race theory in schools. The way that critical race theory is defined, technically, is a graduate level study that really would demonstrate the economics of race and policy are built right into the infrastructure of American culture. Real-estate, bank loans, etc. That’s very different from the way that political parties are defining what they believe critical race theory to be. You took that class when you were a student here, and I think probably have a fairly deep understanding of the content, and we try to approach it in a way where no one was promoting a political agenda. But it was about trying to get people to talk about tough subjects regardless of their politics and be able to listen to one another and hear perspective.”

For a lot of educators, talking about culture, politics, racism and social justice in the classroom may seem like a great way to get canceled on the internet. It’s something Hannah definitely thinks about.

Hannah: “I kind of joke and say, ‘I’m not trying to end up on CNN. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m hearing.’ Or if I feel like an off-the-cuff comment is made by a student, we have to quick cut that and ask them what they mean by that. Especially in a course that does tend to touch on touchy subjects, I’m just trying to make sure that students and faculty are aware I have their best intentions. But I haven’t received any negative feedback for this course… yet.”

All three of the teachers said that while misinformation exists in the world, courses like contemporary issues are important for high schoolers to take.

Callie: “Why do you feel like as an educator teaching about this topic is important for young students?”

Hannah: “Oh it’s wildly important. Especially as our students are digital natives, they’ve grown up in an age where they’re constantly surrounded and expected to produce and consume media daily. However, I don’t think curriculums have prepared students enough for leaving the classroom and making their own determinations. They have to make their own determination, and successful determination, in order to better their own perspectives. And confirmation bias is so real in the age of social media. People see what they want to see, the algorithms cater to that confirmation bias.”

Anna agrees.

Anna: “I wish a course like contemporary issues was not an elective. I wish courses like this would exist and be more accessible to students.”

“I think it’s really hard for schools to offer these types of classes with our current political climate and I think it’s really hard to ask as a teacher to try to do it well. So, I guess I wish it was offered more but I wish there was more support to how to do it well.

“I remind my students they’re getting their information through right now a 33-year-old white mom of two and I have a completely different perspective of the world than someone who isn’t me.”

Hannah recognizes this issue too. She knows that students will inevitably bring up topics she doesn’t know much about… or that the news she follows isn’t the same as those entering her classroom.

Hannah: “I’m not well versed on every single commentary, or a kid who said, ‘I heard this, I heard that.’ Well, I didn’t hear that so I can’t immediately with proof or evidence dispel that. I also think kids do a good job of calling each other out. So, we talk about what positive discourse looks like and what a positive comment section of a news article looks like. And kids do reflect that in their own in class discussions.”

I sat in on a class… students discussed how to know if an online news article is trustworthy, if a blue check mark validates information coming from someone with a lot of followers and whether schools blocking specific news sites helps or deters student’s ability to research. Students took three surveys that asked them to find falsehoods about the Coronavirus and asked them to decide whether a source appeared credible.

 These skills are exactly the ones that educators like Hannah, Dave and Anna are trying to nurture.

Anna: “If a next generation of people feel like a little bit equipped to not just take everything at face value and don’t just trust what people are telling you. Make sure you do the work yourself.  If kids do a little more of that then I feel like I’ve achieved my goal. And if they like to do it, if they want to do it, then I’m maybe going above and beyond a little bit.”

Callie: “Thank you Anna.”

Anna: “You’re welcome.”