Pupils have to deal with a flood of negative news every day. This does not leave them unscathed – and can even be a danger to our community. KLASSE shows how Saxon schools and initiatives are therefore developing ways to empower children and young people and at the same time promote their media literacy.
Wars, crises, disasters – the flood of negative news scares Vanessa, a sixth-grade student at Elstra High School: “When I see pictures of the destroyed Ukraine on Instagram or TikTok, for example, I feel helpless.” Vanessa is not an isolated case: many children and young people in Saxony feel the same way. “I notice that many students feel overwhelmed and defenseless. They have the impression that they are living in a time of permanent crisis in which they themselves can do nothing about it and nothing is being done for them. Their feeling of helplessness is reinforced by the many news items that bombard them every day via social media,” says Amy Kirchhoff, chairwoman of the Saxony State Student Council. Neuroscientist Maren Urner confirms this perception – and sees further consequences for the younger generation due to the over-presence of social media: “First of all, there is the constant availability. The Internet and smartphones create constant pressure, coupled with questions such as: What could I be missing right now? When do friends react to my post, my story, my video? Study results show that the mere presence of a smartphone ensures that it takes up part of one’s attention. This makes it difficult for young people in particular – in whom certain areas of the brain are not yet fully developed – to really concentrate on one thing.” At the same time, there is a proven connection between long periods of social media use on the one hand and feelings of loneliness and mental illnesses such as depression on the other. “In addition, the negativity can encourage the behavior of so-called ‘doomscrolling’. This means an addictive consumption of negative news, which in turn can lead to an overly negative worldview and helplessness in this crucial phase of life,” explains Maren Urner.
Strengthening resilience with good news
Jana Schwan, head of the Elstra high school, does not want to ignore developments like these. Together with her colleagues, she introduced the “Future Workshop” last school year. Every Friday the children work on projects of their own choosing – depending on their interests, they can get involved in helping other people, the environment, animals or plants. “We don’t just want to talk about how we can promote sustainable development, we really want to get into action,” says Jana Schwan. In order to strengthen the resilience – the ability to withstand – the dominance of bad news, the Future Workshop always begins with “Good News”. Maximilian Richter, a specialist teacher for German, geography and sports and learning companion at the Future Workshop, presents the children with good news, for example, reports on new protected areas in the Arctic and explains that there is less and less garbage in Germany. “Then we get into action ourselves and create good news in Elstra by doing something good together with the children right here on site,” adds the head teacher. The children have already used magnetic fishing rods to fish out scrap metal from the local waters, built insect hotels, squirrel nests, hedgehog shelters and bird houses, sown wildflower meadows, planted apple trees, sang in the hospice, built an obstacle course for the kindergarten, beautified the schoolyard and collected money for good causes. Vanessa is enthusiastic about the future workshop: “I am very interested in animals and am happy that I can get involved with them here.” Her classmate Eric is in the “Environment” working group. Together with the other children in the group, he collected cigarette butts in the schoolyard and made signs indicating that smoking is prohibited on school grounds. “I think our work in the future workshop is great because I know that nature is better off now.”
For Amy Kirchhoff from the State Student Council, concepts like these are a constructive approach: “Negative news is more present and played out in the media. It makes sense to talk about positive news and thereby provide a counterpoint.” In her view, however, it is particularly effective when schools are a place where children and young people can actively participate – as in the Elstra high school. Instead of the paralyzing feeling of helplessness, the students experience self-efficacy. Amy Kirchhoff therefore demands that schools in the Free State trust the students and give them more opportunities to get involved. She also appeals to her generation itself: “If an issue is important to you, stand up for it and don’t let yourself be fobbed off at the first no. Just be annoying until your request is implemented.”
Overwhelm, mistrust and scepticism are increasing
More participation, more democratic involvement – Amy Kirchhoff is addressing a point that other experts also consider extremely important. Because apart from the potentially serious consequences for the individual, the media usage behavior of the younger generation, in conjunction with current developments in the media landscape, poses a danger to our community. Aline Mörrath from the Saxon initiative »chaffwheat«, which aims to strengthen young people’s news literacy, has observed not only excessive demands but also a tendency towards »news avoidance« – a conscious turning away from news. »In workshops, we try to show young people why it is still important to get informed. Because they are decision-makers themselves and can help shape our society and our politics,« she says. That is not always easy: Aline Mörrath and her team sometimes notice skepticism and mistrust of traditional journalism, especially in rural areas. »Not just on the part of young people, but also on the part of adults,« says Aline Mörrath.
The problem: Half of teenagers and young adults do not think it is important to keep themselves informed about news and current events. This is shown by a study commissioned by UseTheNews from the Leibniz Institute for Media Research. Meinolf Ellers is particularly reminded of the key sentence of a 16-year-old student: “I don’t even know why news is important to my life.” This alienation is increasing at an enormous pace. “We are observing that the massive, intensive use of TikTok in particular is leading to young people becoming increasingly distant from any understanding and any access to what news and information are actually supposed to achieve in the sense of an enlightening process,” says Meinolf Ellers. UseTheNews wants to counteract these “serious erosion processes” with educational offers, teaching materials and training for teachers, among other things.
Instead of trying to reach students with printed newspapers, the project wants to be as effective as possible, to be directly with young people, to speak to them there and to learn from them and with them. To this end, UseTheNews is also active on TikTok. “We know that we are in a critical and sometimes dubious environment, but we cannot leave this area of digital media to the manipulators and propagandists of this world,” explains Meinolf Ellers.
Many actors are in demand
Offers such as those from spreuXweizen and UseTheNews take the pressure off schools and help them to strengthen the media skills of their pupils in times of fake news and a flood of news. “The teachers usually lack the time or are afraid of contact,” says Aline Mörrath. Meinolf Ellers would like to see even more schools in Saxony use the offers – and also hopes for more strong partnerships. Because schools alone cannot master the current challenges. From the point of view of neuroscientist Maren Urner, many players are needed to get pupils excited about news media. “The traditional media must offer content and formats that reach and touch young people. A lot has gone wrong in the past, because, for example, ‘old’ people produced things for young people – the youth word ‘cringe’ applies to many of the results that emerged,” she explains. Maren Urner also sees parents as having a responsibility. Traditional journalistic media should be integrated into everyday life as “normal”. It doesn’t always have to be the daily news, but overall, shared routines are important. Meinolf Ellers sums it up: “Everything we do can only be done together with the young people. Not over them, not alongside them, not against them. The key is participation, involvement, involvement.”
Notes
- 52% of the 14- to 17-year-olds surveyed* with low levels of formal education have little interest in news. They do not use journalistic sources and only use non-journalistic offerings to a limited extent. Among young people with high levels of formal education, only a quarter are considered to be low in information orientation.
- From the age of 12, all children regularly use a smartphone.**
- Children and young people between the ages of 6 and 18 spend an average of 111 minutes per day on the Internet.**
- 60% of children and young people encounter content on TikTok that makes them feel uncomfortable. Just as many children and young people would like to see this content covered more in school.***
- 70% of children and young people surveyed between the ages of 10 and 16 use TikTok daily.***
- 7 out of 10 children and young people are allowed to use digital media without limits.**
* #UseTheNews; Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute; 2021
** Bitkom Research 2022
*** Challenge Accepted; State Media Authority NRW, 2024
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Text: Antje Tiefenthal
Photos: Matthias Rietschel
