In our world, the information highway runs parallel to the disinformation highway; therefore, it is imperative that children and young people be taught how to think creatively and critically.

Incredible information is available within seconds. Disinformation is available just as quick. What to DO with information – how to fact check, how to synthesize, how to apply it – should be the focus of our educational system.

It’s an exciting time to be an educator. Instead of rote memorization, students can gather data and information, learn to discern its reliability, and then apply that information in new and creative ways.

In this way, our youngest generation can move forward into their lives with confidence in their ability to sift through – with discernment and ease – the mountain of information that continually comes at them. And, teach us a thing or two.

MLK, Jr. said: “To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half-truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.”