Why media and information literacy belongs in every child’s learning journey, By Chiamaka Okafor-Onumah

A child hears that there will be no school tomorrow. The message arrives through a friend, a family WhatsApp group or a video shared online. What should the child do: believe it, forward it or check? That simple moment captures one of the defining challenges of growing up today.

Children are surrounded by information, but they are rarely taught early enough how to question it safely and responsibly.

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) is often discussed as a response to fake news, election rumours or online manipulation. It is all of these, but it is also something more basic and enduring: the everyday ability to ask where information came from, what evidence supports it, why it was shared and whether it should be passed on.

These habits should begin in childhood, when curiosity is strong and the foundations of learning and judgement are being formed.

Children in Nigeria encounter information through family conversations, school announcements, radio, television, books, mobile phones, messaging platforms, social media, online games and, increasingly, artificial intelligence.

This environment brings enormous opportunities. A child can discover a new subject, hear a story from another part of the country or use a digital tool to create something original. The same environment can carry false health advice, fabricated school notices, altered images, harmful content and messages designed to provoke fear or hostility.

Children need the confidence to explore, alongside the skills to pause and check.

That is the purpose of Young Truth Detectives, an initiative of the Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) Foundation. Its workbook turns a complex subject into a journey children can understand: six missions that move from recognising information and media to identifying sources, spotting falsehoods, investigating claims and protecting the truth. A child is not asked to master abstract theory. The child is invited to become a detective: ask a question, look for a clue, check the source and seek evidence.

This approach matters because a definition alone does not create a habit. Children need repeated chances to practise. They can learn that a radio or phone is a medium, while the person or organisation behind a message is its source. They can compare a rumour with an official school notice. They can distinguish misinformation, shared by mistake, from disinformation, created or shared deliberately to deceive. They can learn that even a familiar or trusted person may be mistaken, and that checking a claim is an act of care rather than disrespect.

The most useful lesson may be the simplest: stop before sharing. The workbook’s fact-checking questions—what happened, when and where, who said it, why it might have been shared, and how we can know—give children a practical routine. The final question, “Is it correct?”, leaves room for an honest answer: “I need to check more.” In a culture that rewards speed and instant reaction, teaching a child to wait, ask an adult and verify is a meaningful achievement.

Children should not be expected to investigate dangerous or complicated claims alone. The Facilitator’s Guide places teachers, parents, caregivers and community educators at the centre of the learning process. It offers lesson plans, warm-ups, role-play, reflection, assessment and home activities so that the same ideas can be explored in class and reinforced in family life.

A child who sees adults check a message before forwarding it learns that verification is normal. A child whose questions are welcomed learns that curiosity is a strength.

The guide also recognises that learners do not all begin at the same place. Some children will write answers independently; others will need an adult to read a prompt aloud, invite a spoken response or use a drawing. Age-sensitive activities and familiar Nigerian settings make the lessons more accessible. The aim is not to turn every lesson into a lecture about danger. It is to make critical thought engaging, respectful and useful in ordinary life.
Artificial intelligence makes this work more urgent. AI tools can help children learn and create, but they can also produce convincing text, pictures, audio and video that are inaccurate or invented. The answer cannot be to frighten children away from technology or assume they can identify every manipulation by sight. Instead, they need a question they can use in different situations: who or what produced this, what evidence supports it, and where else can we check? That habit serves them whether a claim comes from a person, a website or a machine.

For Nigeria, the stakes reach beyond individual screen use. Communities depend on information to make decisions about health, education, safety and public life. False claims can create confusion, damage trust and deepen division. Young people who learn to respect evidence, communicate kindly and correct mistakes without ridicule can contribute to a healthier information environment. MIL does not ask children to distrust everyone. It teaches them to place trust thoughtfully, recognise uncertainty and treat others with dignity.

Media and information literacy belongs alongside reading, writing and other foundational skills. It supports the wider purpose of education: helping children understand the world and participate in it. It also complements the commitment to inclusive, equitable quality education and lifelong learning in Sustainable Development Goal 4.

A child who can read a message but cannot question its source remains vulnerable. A child who can question, verify and communicate responsibly has gained a skill for life.

Schools cannot do this work alone, and parents cannot be expected to know every platform or trend. Young Truth Detectives offers a practical starting point. Schools can make space for short, regular MIL activities. Families can talk about where a message came from before deciding whether to share it. Libraries and community programmes can host detective games and story-based discussions. Facilitators can adapt examples to local languages and experiences while keeping the core questions consistent.

For this to take root, MIL should be treated as a continuing practice rather than a one-off event. Teachers need time and confidence to facilitate discussion; parents need simple prompts they can use without specialist training; and programme designers need to review activities as children’s media habits change.

Partnerships with libraries, schools, community organisations and public educators can help extend the work beyond a single classroom. Consistency matters: children learn best when the same habits are modelled across the places where they live, learn and play.

The measure of success will not be how many lessons children complete. It will be whether, over time, they pause when something sounds startling, ask who made the claim, look for evidence and seek help when needed. It will be whether they can say, “I was wrong,” or “Let us check together.” These are modest actions, but they help protect children and the people around them.

Every child deserves the tools to navigate the information world with curiosity and care. Inviting children to become Young Truth Detectives does not ask them to carry the burden of fixing the information ecosystem. It gives them age-appropriate ways to take part in it wisely. The questions they learn to ask today can shape the citizens and community members they become tomorrow—and the kind of society they help build.

Chiamaka Okafor-Onumah is Co-founder and Executive Director of MILID Foundation. She can be reached via [email protected]