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There's more information coming at our kids than at any other time in history. 

The combination of social media and screen addiction has created a perfect storm. And the education system is not keeping up. 

Our children need to be taught digital literacy now! To learn to 'Stop, Think and Check' before believing everything they see online. And it's a lesson they need to be taught at primary school - before they get a smart phone in their hands.

Afterall, we don't send our children to the beach without first teaching them how to swim. Why are we letting them loose on the internet without first teaching them to think critically about the information they will encounter there? 

Laws to ban under 16s from social media are a step in the right direction - but to be really effective they need to be complemented by education. 

Since it was launched 18 months ago, the Newshounds digital literacy program by Squiz Kids has been taken up by over 4,000 primary school classrooms around Australia. It's been assessed by the Queensland University of Technology and been found to be highly effective. But without government funding, the program may be forced to close.

Sign this petition to call on the Australian government to take seriously the issue of digital literacy education at the upcoming Federal Election by funding programs like Newshounds.

Given how mis- and disinformation is warping elections all over the world, there is nothing less important than the future of Australia’s democracy at stake.

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