Dear parent,
We’re glad that you’ve managed to find us! If you are here, you probably feel it is time to talk to your child openly and honestly about disinformation, polarisation and the democratic values that these phenomena go hand in hand with. We can confirm that it’s a much-needed conversation!
With the Under Pressure teaching programme, parents can support their children in developing critical thinking skills and increase their resilience against disinformation. How? A good place to start is by having an open conversation with your child about their media usage and their experiences with and feelings towards mainstream media and democratic values, such as press freedom. In the document ‘Dialogue tools for parents’, that you may find below this post, you can find tips to direct this important conversation in a constructive way.
One of the lessons of the three-part Under Pressure lesson series, in which young role models (peer educators) share their own experiences, includes playing the Under Pressure game. In this game, the player is the bad guy who, in six levels, tries at all costs to get as many fictional likes on fictional social media accounts as possible by making up and spreading disinformation. By playing the game, young people learn to recognise the mechanisms behind disinformation and the techniques are highlighted, as are the effects they can have on society. In the classroom, they then talk to peer educators about their experiences with the game during one of the many reflection sessions.
When Under Pressure is taught in the digital version (instead of the original, physical classroom setting), the game is played as a homework assignment. Therefore, we have made a fully self-contained online version of the game, which asks the player to answer certain questions between levels, making it a great tool to strike up a conversation about disinformation and polarisation at home. The short guide ‘The Under Pressure game: guide for parents’ will help you reflect on the various levels together with your child.
We hope you get to learn from one another and have lots of fun while exploring the mechanisms behind disinformation together!
