Combating the Consequences of COVID-19 Misinformation: Comparative Analysis Among Adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i4.1994Keywords:
media literacy, adolescents, mood change, believability, misinformation, news, covid-19, concern levelAbstract
The subject of media literacy among adolescents is particularly relevant due to the rapid dissemination of information online, the lack of media literacy education in secondary curricula on Long Island, New York, and the prevalence of social media in the twenty-first century. This study looks at the effect of COVID-19 misinformation on the believability, level of concern, and mood of high school and middle school students on Long Island, New York in 2021. This study included high school and middle school students from four Long Island school districts. Students were given a survey that included three misinformation sources, a concern level scale, and a mood scale. As a result of this investigation, a comparative analysis of student data was compiled. While middle school students had higher believability rates than high school students, resulting in negative mood changes and high concern levels, high school students also demonstrated high levels of believability of the COVID-19 misinformation, resulting in negative mood changes and high concern levels. Early adolescent media literacy education is critical to avoiding the unpleasant mood changes and increased concern levels caused by the high believability of COVID-19 misinformation. This study demonstrates that, just as we discovered during the pandemic how critical it is to stop virus transmission, it is also critical to stop the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. Both put people in danger. Combating the negative effects of COVID-19 misinformation necessitates media literacy education.
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