What is News?

Start by asking students whether or not they read a newspaper, watch or listen to TV or radio news, or regularly visit an online news source. For those who do, ask which outlets they read, watch or listen to. For those that don’t, ask: Where do you get your news?

Tell students that most young Canadians are likely to say they heard about a news story because somebody shared it with them on social media or video sites such as TikTok or YouTube, and feel that news will “find them” if it’s important. Younger kids also often hear about news stories from their family members or classmates. Sometimes this can be a bit like the game “Telephone” because important details may be changed or left out by the time a news story gets to you!

Ask students: Is it important for kids to know about the news? Why or why not?

Point out that while some news stories don’t seem very relevant to kids, others are. Some news topics, like science or the environment, may be even more important to kids because they’re about things that will happen in the future!