ENGAGE Civic Academy Makes the News: Teaching Teens to Spot Fake News

When it comes to fake news, there are plenty of stories about shocking headlines that turned out to be taken out of context or were simply incorrect. So the real question is: how do we know what is correct and what is “fake news”? The Arkansas Civic Action Network (ArkCAN) is teaching Central Arkansas youth about this very topic: media literacy and how to tell what is real and what is fake. At Main, Dee Brown and Nixon libraries, students from across Central Arkansas participated in several discussions, including some around AI “hallucinations,” referring to when AI generates false information that appears to be true. This is a part of the broader ENGAGE Civic Academy, a youth program dedicated to teaching young people about government and what it means to be civically engaged. In fact, the program recently drew attention from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which published an article about the ENGAGE Civic Academy’s media literacy section.

So the next question would be: What is the ENGAGE Civic Academy? The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette describes the academy as a five-session course put on by ArkCAN that teaches high school students about understanding government and civic engagement, the electoral process and political participation, public policy and advocacy, community-based service and leadership, and digital democracy and media literacy. Students even learn through Civic Life, a board game ArkCAN created that walks players through registering to vote, researching their ballot and voting. Many students were surprised to see just how accessible their leaders are, learning that they can contact their representatives on their own, according to Autumn Reddell, a facilitator of the ENGAGE Civic Academy at the Main Library in Downtown Little Rock. Students are also using what they learn here to educate those around them, including other adults. One student used what he learned at the Academy to educate his parents about how the US government works, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The academy’s final fall session is November 7, and ENGAGE returns in spring 2027. Read the full Democrat-Gazette article about the ENGAGE Civic Academy and what the academy has done here.