Before You Press “Send”
How can you check whether a message is true?
An activity for ages 13–18. All you need is paper and a pen.
A message arrives in your friends’ group chat: “Tomorrow’s reading competition is cancelled. Tell everyone.” It includes a picture with the library’s logo, but the date of the announcement is missing.
You were planning to go. Do you change your plans? Do you forward the message to your other friends?
Pause for a moment. The picture might be old, or it might refer to a different competition. Open the library page you already know and look for the competition announcement. If you cannot find a clear answer, ask the activity organiser through a contact method known to you or your family.
Until you have checked, you can tell your friend: “I received a message saying the competition is cancelled, but I haven’t confirmed it yet.”
This situation and the examples below are made up for practice. They will help you learn where to look, when to share a message and how to correct something you have already shared.
Be truthful in what you say and share
The Qur’an teaches us not to follow what we have no knowledge of. This is a rendering of the meaning of part of verse 36 of Surah Al-Isra, not the Arabic text itself.[1]
People sometimes pass on false information because they think they are helping. That is why we need to check before saying, “This is what happened.” “I don’t know yet” is an honest answer. There is no shame in saying it.
The steps below are for everyday messages, such as activity times and announcements from school or the library.
Try this first
Before reading the steps, imagine that four accounts have shared the same picture. It says: “The club meeting has moved to the evening.” The date of the meeting is not shown.
Write answers to two questions:
- Is this picture enough for you to change the time you plan to arrive? Why?
- Where will you look for the correct time?
Keep your answers. You will come back to them at the end.
Step 1: What exactly do you need to check?
Decide on your question before searching. In the library example, it is: “Has the reading competition scheduled for tomorrow been cancelled?”
Check the activity’s name, time and place. Cancelling a drawing session does not mean cancelling a reading competition. Closing one library branch does not mean closing every branch.
Also distinguish a claim you can check from an opinion. “The competition starts at five” is a claim you can check. “This is the best competition” expresses someone’s opinion.
Step 2: Who made the announcement?
Look for the announcement from the organisation responsible. For library news, start with its familiar page or the activity organiser. A logo in a picture does not prove that the library published it.
Read the whole announcement and ask:
- When was it posted?
- Is it about the activity I am attending?
- Are the place and date the same?
- Has the organisation posted a later update changing the time or decision?
If you cannot confirm it, say, “I haven’t confirmed the message yet.” Failing to find an announcement is not, by itself, proof that a message is false.
Use a web address you already know to reach the page. Do not click an unfamiliar link in a message or give anyone your password or personal information to “verify” the news.
Step 3: Is everyone repeating the same source?
You might see a message on five accounts and think that five people have checked it. They may all have copied one post.
For example, one account posts a picture of an announcement and four others share it. You are seeing the same picture five times. You still do not know whether anyone checked with the library.
Ask: “Who posted this first? Do the other accounts add any new information?”
If you do not recognise the website publishing the claim, look up its name in other sources you know and trust. Do not rely only on the website’s own statement that it is trustworthy. Reading what other organisations say about a site is one way to check it.[2]
Step 4: What will you do now?
Choose an action that fits what you have found:
| What you found | What you can say or do |
|---|---|
| A clear library announcement cancelling this competition | “The library has cancelled the competition.” Send the announcement to people who need it. |
| A picture without a date, and no original announcement | “I haven’t confirmed it yet.” Wait before sharing the claim. |
| An announcement about a different activity | “This is about the drawing session, not the reading competition.” |
| An old announcement followed by an update from the same organisation about the same activity | Tell your friends the time in the update and share the new announcement. |
Even true information may be unsuitable for sharing. Do not forward someone’s private information. If you see an accusation about a classmate, do not spread it to another group to ask whether it is true. Ask a parent or a teacher you trust for help when needed.
Ages 13–15: Has the competition been cancelled?
You have signed up for a reading competition tomorrow, Thursday. It is now Wednesday. All the information below refers to the same week.
Message 1: A picture says, “Tomorrow’s reading competition is cancelled.” It shows neither the library’s name nor the announcement date.
Message 2: Your friend says, “I saw the picture in two groups, so it must be true.”
Announcement 3: Today, on its familiar page, the library posted: “Tomorrow’s Thursday reading competition will take place as planned. The cancellation picture being shared refers to last month’s competition.”
Answer these questions:
- Which announcement answers your question about tomorrow’s competition?
- Why is seeing the picture in two groups not enough to confirm a cancellation?
- Write a short message telling your friend what you found, without blaming them.
Ages 16–18: Does an advert prove its claim?
An advert for a speed-reading course says, “Everyone who took our course became a faster reader.” Two accounts repeat the claim and link to the same advert.
The advert does not say how many people took part, how their reading speed was measured before and after the course, or whether they still understood what they read.
Answer these questions:
- Have the two accounts added new information or repeated the course provider’s words?
- What would you need to know before telling a friend that the result is confirmed?
- Does the missing information prove that the course provider is lying?
- Write three sentences: What does the advert claim? What does it leave unexplained? Will you share its promise?
One more question: What information might change your mind? Why?
Use only this written example. You do not need to buy a course, contact a website or enter personal information.
Final activity: A change of time
On Monday, a club announced that Thursday’s workshop would start at 4 p.m. On Tuesday, its familiar page posted: “This week’s Thursday workshop has a new start time: 5 p.m., not 4 p.m.”
On Wednesday, two friends send you Monday’s old announcement. Both announcements concern the same workshop, in the same place and week.
Answer:
- According to the information available, what time will the workshop start?
- Why did you choose that time?
- Was Monday’s announcement false when it was posted?
- What will you write to your friends to explain the change?
Return to your answers at the start. Can you now identify what information is missing and where to find it?
What if you already shared something wrong?
Correct it in the place where you shared it. You could write:
I just shared a message saying the competition was cancelled. I have now found out that the picture was about an old competition. According to the library, tomorrow’s competition is going ahead. I’m sorry for the mistake. Here is the correct announcement.
Some friends may have read your first message, so it helps to tell them about the correction even if you delete the old message. If the mistake involves an accusation or private information, do not repeat the harmful details in your correction. Ask a trusted adult for help when needed.
Your before-you-send worksheet
Copy these questions and answer them using one of the activity’s examples:
- What claim do I want to check? …
- Who announced it? Where did I find the announcement? …
- When was it posted? Does it refer to the right time and place? …
- Do the other accounts add information or repeat the same announcement? …
- What have I confirmed? What do I still not know? …
- Will I share it, wait or correct something I shared? Why? …
Do not write down classmates’ names or private information. The examples here are enough for practice.
Guide for parents and educators
Running the activity
Prepare paper, a pen and a copy of the age-appropriate exercise. No internet connection is needed. Let the learner answer before showing the suggestions below. Accept spoken answers if writing makes it harder to take part.
This suggested plan takes about 40 minutes. You can divide it into two sessions.
| Time | What to do |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Read the opening situation and ask the two “Try this first” questions. |
| 8 minutes | Explain the four steps, using the library example. |
| 12 minutes | Complete the age-appropriate exercise and discuss the answers. |
| 10 minutes | Ask the learner to complete the final activity without help, then discuss the reason for the chosen time. |
| 5 minutes | Complete the worksheet and name one step to use in future. |
Suggested answers for discussion
Try this first: The picture is not enough to establish the meeting time because the date is missing. Check the club’s announcement or ask the organiser through a known contact method. More accounts sharing the picture does not supply the missing date.
Ages 13–15: Announcement 3 refers to tomorrow’s competition and explains the confusion. Seeing a picture in two groups does not prove that anyone checked it. A suitable reply is: “I checked the library’s announcement. Tomorrow’s competition is going ahead; the picture is about last month’s competition.”
Ages 16–18: Both accounts repeat the advert. We need the number of participants, how speed was measured, whether understanding was measured too, and the actual results. Missing information does not prove a lie, but it does not allow us to confirm the promise. One possible answer is: “The advert says that everyone read faster after the course. It does not explain how this was measured. I won’t share the promise as a confirmed fact.”
A commercial advert is not automatically wrong. Discuss the evidence it provides. Even if the provider shows that some participants improved, that alone does not prove that everyone will improve by the same amount.
Final activity: The workshop starts at 5 p.m. because the club issued a clear update about the same workshop. The example does not say that Monday’s announcement was false: the time changed after it was posted. A suitable message is: “The club posted an update on Tuesday. The workshop starts at five, not four. The picture we received is from before the change.”
Noticing what the learner has understood
Look for four skills: identifying the claim, knowing where to check, noticing the date and activity, and explaining the decision.
For each skill, note “independently”, “with help” or “needs more practice”. If the learner gets stuck, ask one specific question, such as “Where is the date on this announcement?” These observations help you choose the next exercise; they are not enough to judge the learner’s abilities overall.
Use the supplied examples, not participants’ private chats. Do not ask learners to collect rumours or search for harmful content. Do not call anyone gullible or naive. Learners may work alone or in pairs, and you can read the material together when needed.
A few days later, choose a safe public announcement from school or the library. Ask about its source, date and meaning. Specialist health or religious questions should be referred to qualified people; counting posts is not enough to reach the right answer.
References
[1] The Qur’an, Surah Al-Isra, 17:36: https://quran.com/17/36 . The sentence above conveys the meaning of an excerpt, not the complete verse.
[2] Digital Inquiry Group, Civic Online Reasoning: https://cor.inquirygroup.org/ . Its questions about who is behind information, what evidence supports it and what other sources say informed this activity. The examples and exercises were created by Madarej.