The good thing that comes from this BBC article that says fake news harms children’s self esteem & trust, is the awareness of how important it is to teach our young people critical thinking skills which is basically to be curious about the world around them and not accept things are what they first seem.

This is something even us grown ups need to work on as it’s too easy to consume information and never question it.

But the key thing for me here, is the link between making a mistake and self esteem.

Let’s not go down that rabbit hole.

MAKING MISTAKES IS OK!!!!!

The real issue isn’t the fake news but the culture WE have created that shames ‘failure’.

I’m part of that, as are you. It’s not something outside of us to blame. WE perpetuate this belief in our businesses, our schools and our homes.

Let’s look at the facts in the article. A girl shared a story she believed was true about a person she admired. That story turned it to be false.

Should she not be applauded for caring in the first place rather than shamed for sharing a fake story?

Obviously WHEN we make mistakes (because we all do) it’s important to learn how to gracefully apologise if someone was affected and reflect on what we can learn and perhaps do differently as a result.

That’s it.

Making a mistake can only impact your self esteem if you believe making a mistake is a ‘bad’ thing.

Fake news has to be discouraged but we’re in a digital economy and our young people NEED to be supported to navigate this. And that involves acknowledging they risk creating their own breed of fake news.

Fake news that says our self esteem can be damaged by making a mistake.