The video shows a famous politician saying something outrageous. Your child shares it with their friends. Within hours, it’s been viewed thousands of times. Then comes the truth: it’s a deepfake—a sophisticated AI-generated video that never actually happened.
Welcome to the digital landscape our children are navigating today.
I’m Don Jackson, founder of DaddyNewbie.com, TheRavenMediaGroup.com, and NMFootballAcademy.com. Through my work in media, parenting, and youth development, I’ve witnessed firsthand how rapidly the information landscape is changing. I’ve also seen how unprepared many young people are to navigate it. That’s why I’ve made media literacy a cornerstone of my work, including presentations at local career fairs where I help students understand the critical importance of questioning what they see online.
The truth is this: teaching your children media literacy in the age of deepfakes isn’t optional anymore. It’s essential. And the good news? It’s absolutely something parents can do, starting today.
Understanding the Deepfake Crisis
Before we talk about solutions, let’s understand the problem. Deepfakes are AI-generated videos, images, or audio recordings that manipulate reality so convincingly that they’re nearly impossible to distinguish from authentic content at first glance.
The statistics are sobering. According to recent research, 22 percent of high school principals and 20 percent of middle school principals reported incidents of bullying involving AI-generated deepfakes during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. Even more concerning, 67 percent of school staff believe their students have been misled by deepfakes, and 50 percent say teachers or administrators have been similarly deceived.
But deepfakes aren’t just about bullying. They’re being used to spread misinformation about elections, create non-consensual intimate imagery, impersonate authority figures, and manipulate public opinion on critical issues. The problem isn’t going away—it’s accelerating.
Why Traditional Media Literacy Isn’t Enough Anymore
For years, we’ve taught kids to “check the source” and “verify information.” These skills remain important, but they’re no longer sufficient. When AI can convincingly replicate someone’s face, voice, and mannerisms, traditional verification methods break down.
Here’s what makes deepfakes fundamentally different from other misinformation: they exploit our trust in visual and audio evidence. For centuries, we’ve operated under the assumption that “seeing is believing.” Deepfakes shatter that assumption. Even when people intellectually understand that deepfakes exist, they struggle to identify them in practice.
This creates what researchers call the “liar’s dividend”—the ability to dismiss authentic recordings as probable fakes, creating a double bind where neither belief nor disbelief in evidence can be justified.
As a parent and educator, I’ve learned that the solution isn’t just teaching kids to spot fakes. It’s teaching them to think differently about knowledge itself.
The Foundation: Critical Thinking Over Detection
The most important shift you can make as a parent is moving from “How do I teach my child to detect deepfakes?” to “How do I teach my child to think critically about all information?”
This distinction matters because deepfake detection technology is an arms race. By the time your child learns to spot one type of deepfake, the technology has evolved. But critical thinking skills? Those are timeless.
Here’s what critical thinking about media looks like:
Question the Source
Before your child believes anything online, they should ask: Who created this? What’s their motivation? Do they benefit from me believing this? What’s their track record for accuracy?
This isn’t paranoia—it’s healthy skepticism. I teach this at career fairs by asking students: “If someone benefits financially from you believing something, should you be more careful about verifying it?” The answer is always yes, but many kids have never considered it.
Consider the Context
Information doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A quote taken out of context can mean something entirely different from the original statement. A photo from five years ago can be presented as current news. A video clip can be edited to change its meaning.
Teach your children to ask: When was this created? What’s the full context? What information might be missing?
Recognize Emotional Manipulation
Misinformation and deepfakes often trigger strong emotional reactions—outrage, fear, excitement. This is intentional. When content makes your child feel intensely emotional, that’s a signal to pause and verify before sharing.
I’ve found this is one of the most effective teaching tools. When kids understand that their emotions are being manipulated, they become more resistant to manipulation.
Understand Algorithms and Amplification
Your child needs to understand that social media platforms don’t show content based on accuracy—they show content based on engagement. Controversial content, whether true or false, gets amplified because it generates likes, comments, and shares.
This means viral doesn’t equal credible. In fact, the most viral content is often the least reliable.
Practical Strategies: The SIFT Method
One of the most effective frameworks for evaluating online information is the SIFT method, developed by media literacy expert Mike Caulfield. SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate, Find, and Trace—four moves that help anyone evaluate sources systematically.
Stop
When your child encounters something online, the first step is to stop. Don’t read it. Don’t react. Don’t share it. Just pause.
Ask: Who is behind this? What’s their agenda? When was it published? Can I trust this source?
This single step prevents most misinformation from spreading. Most people share content within seconds of seeing it. By introducing a pause, you’re breaking the cycle.
Investigate the Source
Use lateral reading—a technique where you leave the original source and search for information about it elsewhere. This is different from reading the article itself; you’re researching the source.
Practical steps:
- Search the website or author’s name to learn about them
- Check Wikipedia for information about the organization
- Look at their track record for accuracy
- See what other credible sources say about them
This takes maybe two minutes, but it’s incredibly effective.
Find Better Coverage
Don’t just evaluate one source. Search for how other reputable news organizations are covering the same story. If it’s a major event, multiple credible outlets should be reporting on it.
If only fringe websites are covering something, that’s a red flag. If major news organizations aren’t touching it, ask why.
Trace Claims to Original Context
Information gets reused, recontextualized, and distorted as it spreads online. Find where the claim originated. What was the original context? Has it been taken out of context or misrepresented?
For images and videos, use reverse image search to find the original source and see how it’s been used elsewhere.
This framework works for evaluating deepfakes too. Even if you can’t technically detect a deepfake, you can evaluate the source, find other coverage, and trace the claim to its origin.
Age-Appropriate Media Literacy Activities
Teaching media literacy doesn’t require special materials or expertise. Here are practical activities you can do with your children at different ages:
For Elementary School Children (K-5)
Start with the basics. Show them advertisements and discuss how they’re designed to make you feel a certain way. Play “spot the ad” games where they identify sponsored content on social media.
Use the “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus” exercise—a famous hoax website designed to teach media literacy. Have them investigate whether the tree octopus is real. They’ll use research skills to discover it’s fake, and they’ll learn that just because something is on a website doesn’t make it true.
Watch short videos together and discuss what’s real and what might be fake. Ask questions like: “Does this seem possible? What would you need to verify this?”
For Middle School Students (6-8)
This is where you can introduce the SIFT method formally. Have them practice on real content they encounter online. Make it a game: “Can you find three pieces of evidence that this source is credible?”
Show them examples of deepfakes and discuss how they’re made. Understanding the technology reduces the fear factor and increases critical thinking.
Have them fact-check viral claims using tools like Google Fact Check Explorer or Snopes. Make it relevant to their interests—if they care about a celebrity, fact-check claims about that celebrity.
For High School Students (9-12)
At this level, you can discuss more complex issues: algorithmic bias, the business models of social media platforms, the psychology of misinformation, and the legal implications of deepfakes.
Encourage them to create their own media. Understanding how easy it is to manipulate content makes them more skeptical consumers of it.
Discuss the ethical implications: If you can create a deepfake, should you? What are the consequences? This builds digital citizenship alongside critical thinking.
Recognizing Red Flags: What to Look For
While you can’t rely solely on technical detection, there are visual and contextual red flags that should trigger skepticism:
Visual Red Flags
- Mismatched lip movements or unnatural facial expressions
- Inconsistent lighting or shadows across the image
- Odd audio quality or timing issues
- Unusual blinking patterns or eye movements
- Skin that looks too smooth or too perfect
- Hair that moves unnaturally
Contextual Red Flags
- The content is extremely provocative or outrageous
- It’s designed to trigger strong emotional reactions
- The source is unknown or has a history of spreading misinformation
- It’s being shared without any credible news coverage
- The timing is suspicious (released right before an election, for example)
- It contradicts what you know from multiple reliable sources
Teach your children that if something feels “off,” that intuition is worth investigating. Our brains are actually quite good at detecting subtle inconsistencies, even if we can’t articulate why something seems wrong.
Building a Support Network
You don’t have to do this alone. Here are resources and communities that can help:
Educational Resources
- The News Literacy Project (newslit.org) offers free tools and lesson plans
- Common Sense Media provides age-appropriate guidance on media consumption
- MediaSmarts offers comprehensive media literacy frameworks and activities
- iCivics provides lessons on digital literacy and critical thinking
Conversations with Educators
Many schools are now incorporating media literacy into their curriculum. Talk with your child’s teachers about what they’re learning. Ask if they’re addressing deepfakes and misinformation.
Open Dialogue at Home
The most important resource is conversation. When your child encounters something online that seems questionable, use it as a teaching moment. Ask questions rather than providing answers. Help them develop their own critical thinking skills.
The Deeper Issue: Epistemic Agency
Here’s something I’ve learned through my work at career fairs and in my media ventures: the real goal isn’t just teaching kids to spot deepfakes. It’s teaching them what researchers call “epistemic agency”—the ability to engage responsibly with knowledge when traditional evidence becomes unreliable.
In a world where seeing and hearing are no longer believing, your child needs to develop personal frameworks for assessing truth. They need to understand:
- How their own biases affect what they believe
- Why they’re susceptible to certain types of misinformation
- How to seek out diverse perspectives
- When to admit uncertainty rather than pretend to know
- How to change their mind when presented with better evidence
These skills go far beyond deepfakes. They’re the foundation for being an informed citizen, a critical thinker, and a responsible digital participant.
What Parents Should Know About Deepfake Harm
If your child becomes a victim of deepfake harassment—particularly non-consensual intimate imagery—this is a serious matter that requires immediate action.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law in 2025, makes it illegal to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, with penalties up to three years in prison.
If your child is targeted:
- Document everything. Take screenshots, save URLs, and record timestamps.
- Report to the platform. Most social media platforms have reporting mechanisms for deepfakes.
- Contact law enforcement. Deepfake harassment is now a crime in many jurisdictions.
- Seek support. Your child may experience emotional distress. Counseling and support services are available.
- Know your resources. Organizations like the Center for Family Safety and Healing offer confidential support.
The Conversation Starts Now
Teaching media literacy in the age of deepfakes isn’t about creating paranoid children who trust nothing. It’s about creating thoughtful, critical thinkers who can navigate an increasingly complex information landscape.
Start the conversation today. Ask your child what they saw online that surprised them. Discuss a viral video together. Play a game where you try to spot manipulated content. Make it normal to question, verify, and think critically.
The skills you’re teaching aren’t just about surviving in a digital world—they’re about thriving in it. They’re about raising children who can distinguish signal from noise, who understand how they’re being influenced, and who can make informed decisions about what to believe and share.
As someone who’s built my career in media and parenting, I can tell you this: the parents who take media literacy seriously are raising the most informed, thoughtful, and resilient young people. Your investment in teaching these skills now will pay dividends throughout your child’s life.
The age of deepfakes is here. But so is the opportunity to raise a generation of critical thinkers who won’t be fooled.
About the Author: Don Jackson is the founder of DaddyNewbie.com, TheRavenMediaGroup.com, and NMFootballAcademy.com. He contributes to AMoneyGeek.com on financial literacy and planning, and regularly presents at local career fairs, helping young people understand media literacy and digital citizenship in today’s complex information landscape. His work focuses on empowering parents and young people to navigate media, technology, and information with confidence and critical thinking.
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