I refer to the letter, “Fighting fake news: Explore new ways to engage primary school students” (July 30). 

We thank Mr Kenneth Tan Sheng Han for his views on reaching out to primary school students with educational resources on media literacy.

The initiatives and resources that the Media Literacy Council (MLC) has developed reach out to all age groups. These initiatives and resources are introduced through outreach and engagement programmes during the Better Internet Campaign. 

This task requires a joint effort with multiple stakeholders and our public-education approach has been boosted by partnerships with organisations from the industry, communities and the Government.

We thank Mr Tan for recognising that the fact-checking resources we introduced this year — the News and Media Literacy Toolkit, and the Get Smart with Sherlock fact-checking kit and tip sheets — have helped educators and youth aged 13 to 18 to build their media literacy skills and understand the issue of online falsehoods to mitigate its spread. 

In the coming months, we will be introducing vernacular versions of the Get Smart with Sherlock fact-checking kit to reach out to non-English speakers in Singapore.

The MLC also supports community efforts to promote digital literacy. 

The projects that we have supported this year include:

• Don’t Be Fooled — a collaboration between student cyber-wellness ambassadors, drama club members and staff subject committees to develop a resource package that helped users to discern and fact-check online falsehoods.

• EYEYAH! — an interactive digital magazine available to primary school teachers to teach children about Internet safety.

As children are still at an impressionable age when they are first exposed to the vast amount of information online, we believe it is vital to reach out to them by empowering parents with the tools needed to address digital threats. 

Parents are the best role models that children can have and so, in recent years, we have introduced educational resources that provide fact-checking tips to help them guide their children on a more responsible digital journey. 

These include the Parent's Guide to Keeping Children Safe & Smart Online, the Help Your Child Spot Fake News tip sheet, and the Clique Click parenting guide, which is being revamped and will be available in August. These resources are also available on our website betterinternet.sg.

We encourage members of the public across all ages to be aware of the lasting and real consequences of their choices online, and take on the responsibility of effecting positive change, so that we can live in a safe digital environment.

Have views on this issue or a news topic you care about? Send your letter to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number.