Media literacy education at age three sounds radical until you realize kids already distinguish storybooks from reality constantly. Finland teaches children to spot fake news early because they share a border with Russia’s propaganda machine. Canada shares a border with a different propaganda machine. Same problem, different neighbor.

Neil Anderson explains how Ontario mandates media literacy and why kindergarten teachers practice it daily. Kids read voraciously but not novels. They consume news feeds, articles, and app-based communication instead of text messages. Teachers complain students don’t read, but Anderson says that’s an incomplete sentence. The real issue is the fire hose of information with no pause button for reflection. Eric McLuhan’s advice: answers aren’t in classrooms anymore, so get the questions into classrooms instead.

Discover why critical thinking means asking the right questions before accepting information. Learn how Canada’s 1989 media literacy mandate compares to Finland’s approach. Understand why teenagers already possess critical thinking abilities adults underestimate.

GUEST: Neil Anderson

Originally aired on2026-01-12