CHIDIAC – We’re raising kids who can’t tell the truth from clickbait
(Image: Pixabay)
It’s time schools taught students how to think, not what to think. The cost of ignorance is too high
IN A WORLD DROWNING in information and misinformation, critical thinking isn’t optional—it’s essential. Trust in the mainstream media has plummeted from over 70 per cent in the 1970s to less than 32 per cent in 2024, according to Gallup.
While older generations still rely on cable news, younger people increasingly turn to alternative sources, often without knowing what is credible and what is not.
Today’s challenge is not scarcity of information but overload, much of it designed as clickbait. This has led to growing polarization and a society that is often misinformed. We know not everything online is trustworthy, but we’re rarely taught how to tell the difference.
As an educator, I encourage my students to question what they see. Why is someone telling me this? Are they trying to inform me or manipulate my emotions? We must be especially wary of content that triggers irrational fear or outrage.
It’s also critical to ask: Who is paying for this message? Is it funded by a corporation, a government, a political movement or an advocacy group with its own agenda?
Next, we should focus on universal, life-giving principles. Does this content promote respect for all humanity, or does it incite hatred? Questioning someone’s motives isn’t the same as hating them, but the difference is often blurred online.
Finally, we must consider the source’s reputation and whether the claims are supported by facts. Truth matters, and finding it requires effort.
In short, I’m trying to teach my students to think critically. This is too often overlooked by those who see education merely as a path to literacy, numeracy and employment. But without critical thinking, people are more easily manipulated by propaganda and more susceptible to being stirred toward violence and even war.
As an educator, I must also practise what I preach. I encourage my students to challenge my assumptions because no one is without bias, and I strive to model a relentless pursuit of truth rooted in human dignity.
Over time, I’ve found independent online sources that help me better understand the world. Many are created by journalists who left mainstream media and now operate through platforms like Substack or Patreon, funded directly by viewers.
For Canadian content, Rachel Gilmore, Steve Boots, Samira Mohyeddin and Nora Loreto have earned my trust. For international and U.S. analysis, Aaron Maté—son of respected Canadian-Jewish physician Gabor Maté—offers exceptional insight.
And when it comes to nuanced discussions of global conflict, former Fox News host Andrew Napolitano features interviews with experts that are often more balanced than anything found in mainstream outlets.
These voices aren’t neutral—none of us are—and their work should be read with critical awareness, just as we should with any source. Their value lies not in objectivity but in their willingness to challenge dominant narratives.
These sources also remind us that our traditional understanding of “left” and “right” is increasingly unhelpful. The labels are loaded with stereotypes and, in today’s media landscape, often obscure more than they clarify. Many of the most honest insights come from those who defy simple ideological categories.
The reality is that anyone can post anything online. That means no one should tell us what to think—but we must learn how to think. That begins with asking better questions and being intentional about who we trust.
I’ve shared some sources that I find valuable, but I acknowledge my own biases. My hope is that readers will dig deeper, explore diverse perspectives and seek out media from other countries and languages.
Ultimately, the most meaningful thing we can do is promote human dignity. That starts with a relentless pursuit of truth. With more access to life-giving information than at any time in human history, our challenge, and our responsibility, is learning how to find it.
Gerry Chidiac specializes in languages and genocide studies and works with at-risk students. He received an award from the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre for excellence in teaching about the Holocaust.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Absolutely on the mark article. Some “leaders” would have us believe that trying to eliminate corruption and greed is “left”and stomping on people with less is somehow ” right” and they will spend billions on this effort.
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There is little value in critical thinking. People prefer to “go along to get along”, small talk rules the day. Can’t freely talk about sex, immigration, native issues, city issues etcetera etcetera because someone at any time can and will be “offended”. Then they will “talk” to their online groupies to build a coalition of nastiness against the usurpers of the status quo. The problem is not new. The parents of the newest generations were the ones starting the revolution into complacency. I guess the “educators” who taught “ critical thinking” were too few and far between.
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If a man can be a woman, then a glass of milk can be a glass of juice, then too can a news article be fake or true, it only depends on what the person believes it is, not on objective reality.
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