How to teach your kid to spot ads and judge which sources to trust

Kids 10 to 12 read more on screens every year, and a lot of what they see is trying to sell them something, or just isn't true. The good news: judging what to trust is a skill, and a few simple habits go a long way.

Why it matters

Kids struggle to spot hidden ads. In a 2016 Stanford study, researchers showed middle schoolers a news site's home page. More than 80% of the 203 students believed an ad labeled "sponsored content" was a real news story. They spotted a traditional ad with a coupon code much more easily. Across the whole project, researchers collected nearly 7,800 responses from middle school, high school and college students in 12 states, and found students at every level struggled to judge credibility online.

Ads are getting harder to see. The Federal Trade Commission warns that many kids and teens can't always tell something is an ad when it's blended into the content around it, like an ad woven into a game, or a favorite influencer who was paid to feature a product.

Skill 1: Spot an ad versus information

1. Look through a magazine, website or app with your grown-up.
2. Find something trying to sell you something.
3. Find something that just gives information.
4. Explain how you could tell them apart.

The FTC's Admongo ad-literacy program teaches three questions to ask about any ad:

• Who's responsible for it?
• What is it actually saying?
• What does it want you to buy, do or think?

Clues to look for: words like "sponsored," "ad," "promoted" or "partner"; a brand name or product featured again and again; a "buy now" button; a video where someone loves a product a little too much.

Practice in the wild. When you're watching a video together, ask: "Do you think they got paid for that?"

Skill 2: Find the author and date

1. Look at the top or bottom for a name. That's the author.
2. Find when it was written.
3. Ask: is this still up to date?
4. Ask: who is this person? A scientist? A company? Someone anonymous?

A 2015 article about the "newest" phone is out of date. A 1990s article about dinosaurs may have been overturned by new fossils. The date matters more for some topics than others, and that's a great thing to talk about.

The Stanford researchers found many students didn't think twice about an article on financial planning that was written by a bank executive and sponsored by a bank. Who wrote something, and who paid for it, is one of the most important questions a reader can ask.

Skill 3: Compare two articles on one topic

1. Read both articles.
2. Write what they agree on.
3. Write where they're different.
4. Say which one explains it better, and why.

Pick a topic your child cares about: a sports debate, an animal, a new video game. Where the articles disagree, ask: "Why might they disagree? Does either one have a reason to want you to believe it?"

The challenge: which source is more trustworthy?

The mastery goal is for your child to explain to the family which of two sources is more trustworthy, and why.

1. Check who wrote each one.
2. Check when each was written.
3. Check if the facts match other sources.
4. Tell your family which you trust, and why.

That third step is the one professionals use. In another Stanford study, professional fact checkers judged websites better than historians and Stanford students did. Instead of reading one page closely, they practiced "lateral reading": skimming a page, then opening other sites in new tabs to compare and get context. They were also choosier about which links they clicked. Teach your child: to check a source, leave it, and see what others say about it.

Tips for parents

• Think out loud. "This looks like news, but see the word 'sponsored'? That means a company paid for it."
• Don't just ban. A kid who learns how to judge sources is protected even when you're not there.
• Admit when you're fooled. It happens to everyone, and it shows these are skills, not a test.

Make it a quest

In Family Quests, this is the Critical Reader skill. Practice quests are compare two articles on one topic, spot an ad versus information and find the author and date, and the mastery quest is explain to the family which of two sources is more trustworthy and why. Kid mode in Family Quests has no ads, so the ad hunt happens out in the real world. Start free.

Next: start a family book talk, or go back to reading nonfiction.