When the project Medi4Youth kroz F4ctCheck began, research among young people, teachers and journalists in the Brčko District revealed worrying results: it turned out that young people very rarely check sources of information, that schools lack structured media literacy programs, and that disinformation is accepted without critical reflection. Instead of responding to this challenge with some training or some other one-off measure, the PRONI Center for Youth Development decided to take a different and longer-term approach with young people at the centre of the solution.
Young people as co-creators, not just beneficiaries
A youth advisory body – the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) – consisting of eighteen young people from the Brčko District was put in charge. They went through four educational sessions that covered the topics of media literacy, fact-checking, identifying disinformation, as well as identifying digital manipulations and checking sources of information. But their role did not stop there: YAB members played an active consultative role in the development of the main “product” of the project! It is the game Facts or Fake – an interactive educational board game that has been developed as an innovative and practical tool for learning about media literacy.
A practical tool with lasting impact
The game is modeled after “Ludo”, it includes 50 board fields, with 105 cards across seven thematic categories. Each field of a certain color opens a new card and a new task that tests knowledge, critical thinking and the ability to recognize fake news. In this way, learning about media literacy is achieved through the game, at both the basic and advanced levels.
Thirty sets of the game were printed and distributed to primary and secondary schools, as well as relevant civil society organizations. The participation of young people from YAB gave this game a special charm, as the young consultants ensured it spoke the language of their peers and reflected real online challenges.
Results beyond expectations
While the project originally planned ten workshops, fifteen of them were delivered in primary and secondary schools, reaching 87 young people directly. Teachers assessed that the game encourages teamwork and motivates young people to analyze digital content in an understandable, fun way. Likewise, young people emphasized that Facts or Fake improved their ability to identify unreliable information, and to better understand manipulation techniques.
According to PRONI Center project manager Dejan Rađen, it is possible that new copies of the game will be printed soon due to the great interest of schools and young people. However, all interested people and organizations can contact PRONI and ask for their ready-to-print digital copy of the game. Maybe suprisingly, some teachers were so inspired by Facts or Fake that they want to try to apply a similar approach to the subjects they teach.
“We simply have to try something this innovative, and I am already thinking about a version of the game for my students. There is no knowledge that cannot be mastered more easily through play and interaction,” says Midhat Đedović, a geography teacher at the Third Elementary School in Brčko.
From local activity to broader change
By combining research, youth participation, innovative educational tools and close cooperation with schools and the media, Medi4Youth kroz F4ctCheck delivered much more than expected outputs. It created a replicable model for building media resilience among young people, all with an innovative and fun tool, as well as partnerships that will remain as legacy of the SMART Balkans project through which the activities were implemented.
