News Literacy Project newsletter helps families to ‘Scroll Smarter’ together
Kids are constantly online – scrolling, swiping, chatting and searching. It’s often tough for teens and tweens to know what content to trust or what to ignore. Sometimes they’re gullible; other times, too cynical.
The News Literacy Project has a new free newsletter for busy families that want to help their kids think critically about the nonstop information filling their social feeds and search results. It’s called Scroll Smarter. Here’s what Susan Minichiello and Alee Quick, who write the newsletter, have to say about this resource.
Why did you launch a newsletter about kids and how they find information online?
We launched Scroll Smarter to support families and kids as they confront the most complex information landscape in history. On top of getting through homework and chores, kids are struggling to cut through AI slop, deepfakes, YouTube trends, and paid influencers to determine what’s credible.
At the News Literacy Project, our team of educators and journalists create resources that teachers use to help kids learn about news and information they encounter every day. We want to share these tools and tips with parents and caregivers and empower them to help their kids with the skills they need to find sources they can trust.
Why do kids need help navigating the internet?
Kids today are digital natives with constant internet access through tablets, smartphones, smart home devices, watches, and more. But being a digital native doesn’t mean they automatically have the skills to judge credibility, question sources or understand why their feeds look the way they do.
We’re all vulnerable to rumors and doomscrolling on social media feeds. Critical thinking skills are essential to help kids and teens navigate fact from fiction and stay safe and healthy online.
What makes your newsletter different from other resources for families about media, screen time, or online safety?
Scroll Smarter is created by the same team as The Sift, our weekly newsletter for educators that brings timely news literacy topics like AI and social media into the classroom. There’s overlap between what’s relevant in the classroom and what’s helpful at home. Scroll Smarter subscribers receive the most important updates of the month, along with ideas and tips for discussing these topics around the dinner table.
The newsletter also features a Family Q&A section where readers can submit questions they may have about social media, AI, news, influencers, conspiracy theories, or any other news literacy topic. We love hearing from readers and feature our responses to their questions in Scroll Smarter. (Side note: You can win swag if your question is picked! Submit your questions here.)
We know parents and families’ inboxes are full of school emails, advertisements, news alerts and other newsletters. Scroll Smarter is free and only comes once a month, so it won’t clutter your inbox!
Tell me about the newsletter’s mascots – Digit and Pinky.
The characters are two smiling fingerprints. Digit represents a parent and Pinky represents a child. They are inspired by the concept of your “digital fingerprints,” as well as physical prints left on a phone screen. We hope they bring a little joy to your inbox, and tie together the themes of families and news literacy.
Subscribe to Scroll Smarter here.
