Senator Sarah McBride has introduced a bill that likely won’t get acted on before June 30, but it should in the new year. Senate Bill 195 will seek to fight disinformation in our society by giving our school students the media literacy skills they need to discern what is bullshit and what is real.
I say we need to expand this bill so that it also provides tools to educate the Boomer Generation so that they can tell which Facebook post is disinformation and which is real, before they share it.
But I guess we need to tackle this one generation at a time.
What this bill would do is require the Department of Education to develop and maintain evidence-based media literacy standards for use by school districts and charter schools serving students in grades kindergarten through 12. The standards and materials must be age-appropriate and must address appropriate, responsible, and healthy online behavior.
Notice that there is not a single Republican sponsor on this bill. That is because they only win when their voter is as misinformed as possible.
| Senate Bill 195 Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| S.McBride, Sturgeon, Lockman, Hansen, Townsend, Walsh | ||
| Heffernan, K.Williams, Dorsey Walker, Baumbach, Wilson-Anton | ||
| Current Status — Senate Education 6/23/21 |
Senator Sarah McBride: “The rise of misinformation, fabricated news, and online bullying present a real and significant danger. The future of our economy and the health of our democracy demands that the rising generation of Americans be discerning consumers of digital information and news, capable of navigating a complex environment. […] I introduced SB 195, alongside Sen. Laura Sturgeon, Sen. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman, Rep. Debra Heffernan, and Kim Williams State Representative, 19th District, to establish statewide standards surrounding digital citizenship and media literacy for our K-12 public and charter schools.”
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