A video of an animal
A video shows an animal doing something incredible. Your friend says it is definitely real.
What do you think?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
Photos of people
The people in photos online look perfect. Their skin, their hair, everything.
What is worth knowing?
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
People can change pictures. They can make skies bluer, faces different, and things appear that were never there.
Some are made completely
Computers can now make pictures and videos of things that never happened at all.
You do not have to work it out
If you are not sure whether something is real, ask a grown-up. Even grown-ups have to check now.
Step 3: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 1
You see a video of something amazing that could not really happen. What is a good thought?
Step 4: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Spot one changed picture
- Look at a picture with a grown-up.
- Find one thing that might have been changed.
- Talk about how they might have done it.
Why: Looking for the change is much more interesting than being told to be careful.
Step 5: What You Learned
- Pictures and videos can be changed.
- Some are made up completely.
- If you are not sure, ask.
For the grown-up
This lands better as a shared game than a warning. Looking at an obviously altered image together and asking "how do you think they did that?" builds the habit without making screens frightening.
The honest point that adults also have to check is worth making. It removes the implication that being fooled is a childish failing, which is what stops people asking.
This builds directly on the real-or-made-up lesson in Thinking & Decisions. Same skill, harder surface.