Fall into kindness Take a moment to talk about the kind acts you have witnessed! Turn in your kind act counts to Mrs. Cutright.

Fake news Fake news has been hitting news headlines since the 2016 Presidential election. What exactly is fake news? Definition: Fake, false or misleading stories or websites that are shared person to person or through social media. Fake news is NOT information with which you disagree. So if someone says that your favorite football team stinks, you cannot call that fake news. Fake news is NOT good faith news that simply requires a correction. Even professional journalists can make errors and usually willingly issue a correction to preserve the integrity of their publication. Talk about what this means.

Fake news is a real problem Research shows that, from August 2016 to election day, fake news stories had more followers on Facebook than mainstream reputable news stories did. We have to wonder whether fake stories had an impact on our US Presidential election. Is that ok with you? Look at the chart on the next slide to see which fake news stories were most followed on Facebook…

“Fake news almost had a body count” (source, media matters) In Dec, 2016 a fake story claiming that a Washington D.C. pizzeria is a child-trafficking hub led to a man with gun opening fire in the restaurant. The shooter claimed he was there to self-investigate the story. Fortunately, no one was harmed. The story was proven to be untrue. How many times do humans blindly believe what they read or hear? This can influence a person to make serious mistakes. Why are Americans allowing themselves to believe fake news?

So we know that, in order to be a good citizen, we can help ourselves by making informed choices about whether to believe the news stories we read/hear. What are some ways we can figure out whether a story is fact or fake? Do your own research, check the reputation of the source, discuss it with a knowledgeable person, etc.

But can fake news affect our daily life? There are many ways that fake news can harm our daily life. We can be easily convinced that information we hear is true, when in fact, it is untrue. This phenomenon can be a big problem for students. It is fake news, but when it happens locally or at school, we tend to call it something else. Any ideas on what we call fake news that happens here at B-UMS? Rumors and Gossip!

Gossip hurts If fake news hurts Americans nationwide, it can certainly cause a lot of problems and disruption here in our personal lives. We can become better people and therefore better friends by learning to differentiate between fact and fake. If you hear a rumor, do you sometimes assume that it must be true? Even without checking to see if it is factual? You probably have. So instead of blindly believing and then spreading the rumor, what can you do?

10 tips for dealing with rumors that are about you 1. Ignore it as much as you can. (even if it is true, someone is going to get hurt) 2. Don’t deny too hard. (it makes you look GUILTY even if you aren’t.) 3. Broadcast the rumor! (make a point of saying to others, “Did you hear the ridiculous rumor that people are spreading about me?”) 4. Stay calm and don’t let them see how upset you really are. (show a positive and confident attitude, that is less fuel for the gossip) 5. Confront people who spread rumors (say something like, “Why on earth would you say something like that?”)

10 tips continued 6. Rely on your friends. (for support, and for them to help stop the rumors) 7. Don’t plan revenge. (getting back at someone doesn’t even the score, it just continues the problem and can cause it to get worse) 8. Stand up for yourself in an assertive way (say something like, “This is getting out of control and the gossip has to stop.”) 9. Talk to an authority figure if needed. 10. Accept that sometimes, there is nothing you can do. (rumors usually stop on their own but waiting for it to happen stinks).

resources http://libguides.marshall.edu/fake https://www.statista.com/chart/6795/fake-news-is-a-real-problem/ https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/12/05/conservatives-downplayed- fake-news-yesterday-it-almost-had-body-count/214712 https://www.wsj.com/articles/most-students-dont-know-when-news-is-fake- stanford-study-finds-1479752576 http://www.gurl.com/2014/05/29/tips-on-how-to-deal-with-rumors-about- yourself-gossip/#1