TL;DR: This week, we learned how to spot catchy traps. Whether it’s a headline, a thumbnail, or a scam SMS claiming we’ve won 298K.
"The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps."
— Proverbs 14:15 (NIV)
In a world of clickbait and scams, the best parenting move might just be teaching our children to pause before they click. We spent this week learning to recognize messages that aren’t quite what they seem. Those dramatic headlines, sneaky thumbnails, and even text messages that promise riches (spoiler alert: no one randomly wins Ksh 298,000 just for existing 🙃).
Our focus was the principle: “Catch the Clickbait” – learning to detect hooks that manipulate rather than inform.
What We Read This Week
The Boy Who Cried Wolf by B.G. Hennessy – A cautionary tale about lost trust.
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach – Unreliable narrator alert!
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems – A lesson in persuasive (and absurd) argument.
That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems – We all got tricked. And it was fun. Until the twist.
Each read sparked great reactions from our children, who now happily volunteer their takeaways. (A parenting win!) Even more surprising? One of them mid-conversation called out: “Why are you clickbaiting us?” 😅
Activity of the Week
We used the Clickbait Quiz on Quizalize (10 questions, 30 seconds each). It was fast. It was fun. It was enlightening.
Bonus: We used a scam SMS I received (“Congrats, you’ve won!”) as a real-life example. The children’s responses showed us how far their critical thinking has come. That’s fruit we love to see.
✅ Checklist for Catching Clickbait (Child Edition)
Before you click or believe:
☐ Is this trying to trick me into clicking before thinking?
☐ Is it trying too hard to get your attention?
☐ Does it make exaggerated promises or claims?
☐ Is it missing clear, honest context?
☐ Would Jesus say “That’s wise,” or “That’s just flashy”?
Action Step
Try the Clickbait Quiz as a family! Then pick a few headlines from YouTube, songs, or news and ask: “Is this trying to inform or just get clicks?”
Let your children lead the analysis. You’ll be surprised what they catch.
We wrap up our Critical Thinking & Media Wisdom Month here. We’ll be back in August exploring a brand-new theme: Entrepreneurial Thinking.
Until then: stay curious, stay wise, and stay scam-free.