Banff Academy Raises Awareness of Online Disinformation

That the Parliament recognises what it considers to be the growing dangers posed to society and democracy by online disinformation and misinformation; believes that this is a global issue and will take a global effort to tackle the problem; recognises the steps that the Scottish Government has taken to imbed digital fluency and safety learning in Scotland's education system; acknowledges the work of the S3 pupils of Banff Academy, as they have developed as responsible digital citizens, engaging in discussions, group activities, case studies, and real-world examples to build critical thinking and empathetic online behaviour; applauds these achievements of S3 students at Banff Academy, who, it understands, have directly been victims of online misinformation and have demonstrated exceptional learning outcomes focused on three key areas, namely media literacy, fostering empathy, and responsible digital citizenship; understands that managing their online footprint has equipped them with valuable skills like critical thinking, resilience, and adaptability, empowering them to tackle problems both online and offline; considers that the project has helped these young people achieve such outcomes and equipped the pupils to deal with real-world challenges and problems, encouraging students to actively explore and research a topic, then culminate their learning by creating a project that demonstrates their understanding, in this case, that of actively drafting their own Scottish Parliament Bill addressing what it sees as the harmful effects of online misinformation; commends the work of the staff and pupils of Banff Academy, and looks forward to seeing this project grow and develop in the years to come.