Young people get health advice from social media. But can they tell good information from bad? – CBC

Students need ‘tools … to critically appraise what they’re seeing online,’ says doctor

Nov 22, 2024

Could sunscreen be bad for you? Can kitchen ingredients cure an STI? Students go online to search out all manner of information — including health and wellness advice — but face an overwhelming landscape often full of myths and memes.

“It can be very easy … for youth to read something and maybe take it as being true when it might not be,” said University of Toronto student Soliana Lijiam.

A recent surge of social posts decrying fluoride in drinking water, spurred by Robert F. Kennedy’s nomination to lead America’s top health agency, underlines the ongoing struggle to find reliable health information amid a sea of online mis- or disinformation.

Though lessons about digital media literacy are part of the Canadian school curriculum, students and experts alike say that more extensive learning is needed to boost young people’s critical thinking skills and guide them to be savvy on social media.

Young people get health advice from social media. But can they tell good information from bad? – CBC

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