(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- This academic year Illinois became the first state in the nation to require that media literacy be taught in high school classrooms. It’s an effort to combat misinformation.
The Literacy Education Law was signed in July of 2021, but went into effect this year and now requires a unit of instruction on media literacy that includes lessons on how to access information, evaluate media messages, create media, reflect on media consumption and explore one’s social responsibility to ethically consume media.
Democratic state representative Lisa Hernandez of Cicero championed the law saying that “it’s more important than ever that young people learn to discern truth from fiction."
Hernandez cites finding inspiration for passing the law in the research and tenacity of a Naperville Central High School graduate, who’s social studies teacher also joined in collaborating on the legislation.
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