Information Verification & Media Literacy

RSHE's primary online safety content asks pupils to "critically evaluate their online relationships and sources of information" [rshe-pilot-extracts §8] and to recognise that material once shared online cannot be retracted. [rshe-pilot-extracts §9] REAL's LT 8.1 teaches SIFT — Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, Trace claims to the original context — alongside the principle that what to believe, what to share, and what to act on are three separate decisions. [real-framework-overview §21, §22] RSHE flags the risk; REAL teaches a method.

Within CfW's Health and Well-being Area, information verification isn't a named focus — the What Matters statements stay at the level of social influences, decision-making and relationships. [cfw-what-matters §10, §14, §17] Imagine a student encountering a viral health claim. Where CfW would route through critical thinking about the decision, REAL routes through a procedure: pause before reacting, find who made the claim, look for better coverage elsewhere, trace it back to its original context. [real-framework-overview §21] The territories overlap; the skill taught is different.

CASEL's competency set covers self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. [casel-framework-definition §3, §4] Media verification doesn't appear in any of them. REAL's LT 8.1 teaches a verification method with named criteria, and a distinction many SEL programmes don't draw — that what a student believes about a claim, what they share about it, and what they act on are three different decisions. [real-framework-overview §22] CASEL covers the choice; REAL covers the verification.